SSBU: Super Smash Bros Ultimate
by Eternal Smasher
Summary: 50 enter. 1 saves the Worlds from Reconstruction. See your favorite characters from Melee, along with some new faces, battle it out for the ultimate prize and the ultimate consequence. Eleventh battle: Shadow Mario vs. Peach.
1. The Third Tournament

_I am putting one of my story ideas to work today. This one I'm gonna try to make long. Try and likely fail, but still try. Anyway, this chapter is the prologue, and the next chapter is an actual battle. Can't wait for that. Read on._

In darkness, the Hands lay. It had been 2 whole years since the first. Who would've thought it? That little thing had spirit, and that spirit was what eventually led him to victory.

_Damn that Pichu…how could I have lost to that, of all creatures?_

In darkness, the Hands lay. Bored. Crazy Hand didn't care, as long as he had something to destroy. Now, there was nothing, so he just lay there, weak and jaded. They needed a plan. But he, the Master Hand, just wanted to see that little big-headed rat destroyed.

"Brother…" he called out weakly. "Brother, are you there still?"

"Yes…" Crazy Hand called out, just as weak. "What are we going to do?"

"We can't do anything…without power…"

"So we just lay here in darkness, weak and helpless, for eternity?"

Master Hand tried to get up and float, but he quickly fell back down.

"I'm afraid so…"

Crazy Hand sighed sadly. If he could cry, he would. But then, an idea crossed his mind (well…yeah).

"I have enough energy left…to get you by."

"What are you saying...? No, don't do it." Master Hand couldn't have sounded more serious at this moment, because he was too weak to yell.

"You have to do it again…the next tournament…"

Crazy Hand began to float up and glow a bright blue. Master Hand could feel his strength returning and his will become greater and greater. He started to float up.

"This is not the end, bro. I'll see you again…soon," Crazy Hand's voice echoed.

Master Hand clasped Crazy Hand.

"You better."

"Create for me…" Crazy Hand's voice faded. The flash of light grew brighter, melting away the darkness, and reviving the Master Hand. Crazy Hand broke into small yellow sparkles, and a small, bright blue light shone in Master Hand's palm, then faded.

"That thing's going down. And if I can't do it…maybe some newcomers can…"

Stars began to appear in the dark void, one by one, decorating the blue and purple universe that appeared in the background. A large, flat platform (with the bottom area housing a glowing black ball shining a narrow white light straight down) arose. Master Hand chuckled, then laughed loudly.

"Ah, I live for this…"

* * *

Sometime later, in the Mushroom Kingdom…

Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, DK, and Diddy were having a little gathering at Peach's Castle, a little something they did whenever the almost-always-in-peril Mushroom Kingdom was at peace. The only real reason DK and Diddy were there was because they were traveling through the area, and Diddy had never been to Peach's Castle before.

The Toads were bringing out the main attraction of the snacks: the cake. Everyone couldn't wait to dig in to the delectable triple-layered cake. As Peach started to cut it, Mario could only think about two things.

_Wow, Peach must have a lot of time on her hands._

_I wish I could do that tournament again…that was fun…_

His thoughts had soon faded due to a nudge by Luigi.

"Still thinking about that tournament?" Luigi handed Mario his piece of cake on a plastic plate.

"Yeah…I know it's been two years, but I was just _inches_ away from victory…" Mario took a bite of his cake, yet he did not feel any better. A rarity for food. "I've always hated rats…"

DK noticed Mario was thinking about it again. Like he had a right to be upset. DK lost in his first fight. Diddy noticed DK noticing Mario thinking about it again. He knew what "it" was, and had a little sympathy toward him, but he was upset too, on account that he wasn't even chosen.

"Don't worry, Mario," one of the many Toads said. "One of these days, he's gonna open up that portal, and you'll be fighting in another Smash Bros. Tournament before you know it!"

Mario sighed and continued eating his cake.

"Mario's got the right idea," Yoshi called out, already done with his slice and signaling for another. "I wanna be in that tournament again too. That was fun!"

"But it was also dangerous," Peach stated. "Although…I would've liked some of the other people to come for a little party…"

Suddenly, there was a heavenly flash that almost blinded everyone in the room. When the flash disappeared, there was a translucent portal hovering above the table, above Peach's cake.

Mario lit up inside.

"You guys remember me, don't you?" a deep voice boomed throughout the room. All of the Toads scattered about the room in panic.

"Yes, Master Hand," everyone except for Diddy and the screaming Toads answered. Diddy was astonished. He was being chosen.

"You know the drill. Join or have your world eradicated. I'd appreciate it if you could fill in the chimp to what this is all about when you get here," Master Hand said.

"I'll do it. And yes, we're joining," DK said, patting Diddy's head.

"Brace yourselves. You're about to be sucked in to the Final Destination," Master Hand said.

"Final Destination…that is so cool!" Diddy said with a big smile. Within 3 seconds, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, DK, and Diddy were sucked into the portal and were traveling through a sparkling blue wormhole at very high speed. Diddy's cheering reverberated through the wormhole.

As did Mario's.

* * *

The warp had ended. The gang had found themselves on a large, flat platform with a glowing black ball on the bottom shooting a narrow, glowing beam straight down. It seemed that they were traveling through space; through a universe filled with stars, blues, and purples. And Diddy couldn't be more astounded.

They were not the only ones there. Though Master Hand had either left or not yet arrived, some of their old friends were already prompted of the next tournament, and had already made it. The gang greeted Link, Young Link, Zelda, Fox, Falco, the Ice Climbers, Pichu, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Marth, Roy, Captain Falcon, Ness, Kirby, and Mr. Game & Watch. They were all friends from the previous battles.

"How has it been?" Mario asked Fox.

"Pretty slow…but we got a new member on our team. And Master Hand was kind enough to let her join. Say hi to Krystal," Fox introduced.

"It's nice to meet you all," Krystal said. She had blue and white fur and a slightly decorated staff. Her attire was mostly light blue spandex with darkened material around her arms, legs, and torso. She shook their hands, including Diddy's.

"I'm Diddy," he said, chuckling.

"Diddy, eh? One of your relatives, DK?" asked Marth. DK picked up Diddy and placed him on his shoulder.

"He's my nephew. He's wanted to join the tournament ever since I went first," DK said.

"Well, let me tell you, kid. The fights get rough. It's nowhere near easy," said Falcon, somewhat sternly.

"Hey Pikachu. Who's that?" the blue Ice Climber Popo asked.

"Oh." Pikachu looked over his shoulder and noticed his evolved form, Raichu, standing several inches taller than him. "That's what I evolve into. But I don't know this guy…" Pikachu said, backing up.

"Looks powerful. We better watch it," said Ness.

"I wonder when Master Hand's going to arrive?" Zelda said.

"Yeah…" Peach also wondered.

"Did anyone else realize how many new people are here?" Jigglypuff said, pointing. The group looked around Final Destination. There was indeed lots of new blood in this tournament, some familiar, some not.

Bowser was back, along with his son, Bowser Jr., complete with his trademark paintbrush.

Baby Mario and Baby Luigi had just arrived, always wanting to be heroes.

A brown bear with a blue backpack and yellow shorts was sitting in the corner, waiting for the tournament to begin.

A creature about the same size as Kirby with a metallic mask, a dark cape, and a yellow sword was observing the area.

A young man about Marth's height with white hair, an opened red jacket, olive green pants, glowing gauntlets and leg-guards, and a broadsword attached to his back was sitting in a corner of the platform.

Wario, Waluigi, Daisy, and Dr. Mario had just arrived.

Some sort of large blue bird wearing a royal red robe and carrying a large, wooden hammer was impatiently waiting for the tournament to begin. He started conversing with Bowser.

A man wearing black spandex, a red cape, a white helmet (with an emblem), white chest armor, white gloves, and a white and gold belt just arrived. Obviously an F-Zero pilot.

Shortly after that, a man wearing all black spandex and bullhorns arrived. Obviously an evil F-Zero pilot.

A group of 7 anthropomorphic animals (a blue hedgehog, a yellow twin-tailed fox, a red echidna, a black hedgehog, a pink hedgehog with a large hammer, a white bat, and a purple chameleon) were also waiting for the tournament to begin.

Two teens were talking to each other: one male wearing red spandex, white gloves, and a pink flowing cape; and one female wearing a short blue dress, a helmet with a purple visor, and a flowing yellow cape.

"Wow…" was all they could say.

Samus and Ganondorf arrived. Ganondorf went to go talk to Bowser and Dedede, while the two Babies immediately ran over to their grown selves.

"Mario, we finally get ta fight! Isn't that awesome?" Baby Mario said, beaming.

"What was Master Hand thinking?" Luigi said with a sigh.

"Who are these guys?" Baby Luigi asked, looking at the large group, particularly Mr. Game & Watch.

"These are some of the people you'll be fighting against," said Peach.

"Is he a cookie?" asked Baby Mario, pointing at the flat, black figure.

"No, I'm not," the "cookie" replied.

"Aw, man…I'm hungry…" Baby Mario said, starting to cry. Baby Luigi patted his back. Falco just stared at Mario, saying nothing. Mario just shook his head.

"I knew it! You _were _a wimp when you were little!" Falco said, laughing. Mario groaned as Mewtwo appeared, speaking to no one.

"It's only a matter of time before Master Hand comes back…I think everyone that needs to be here is here," said Roy.

2 minutes later, Master Hand floated in from the background. Everyone except for Mewtwo focused his or her attention on him. Some people were a bit surprised at the hand's size.

"Welcome, one and all, to the Smash Bros. Tournament," his voice boomed.

"Finally," the white haired young man said.

"Before I answer your questions, I'm going to tell you a few things that might eliminate them." The hand cleared his throat somehow.

"This tournament will not claim your lives during battle. If you decide to fight in the mansion, that's another story. I really don't care. Anyway…the tournament will be separated into 2 divisions: North and South. In both divisions, there will be 25 fighters starting out. It will then be reduced to 13, then 6, then 3, and finally, 1. Since there are no byes in this tournament, 3 unlucky bastards are chosen to compete in a three-way battle each necessary round. The finals consist only of 1 three-way fight."

"Ooh, he said a bad word…" Baby Luigi whispered.

"As for the actual fights," Master Hand continued, "I have created 40 arenas. Of course, you won't be fighting on all of them, they'll be chosen randomly. This is the final arena right here, where you fight me. If you defeat me, you win 50 million in whatever currency is used in your place of residence, plus one wish. Anything you want will be granted to you. Want your archenemy defeated forever? Consider yourself at peace. All you have to do is win."

Some of the new guys murmured.

"I'm sure many of you are wondering what happens if I win. If you lose to me, I get to destroy all of your worlds and create my own in their place. So the pressure is on whoever reaches the end of the ladder."

"And I thought this was just for fun. Never doubt booming voices…" the red spandex-wearing teen said.

"In the arenas, like I said earlier, you can't die, but you definitely can get your ass knocked several hundred feet. Also in the arenas, your battling skills will be fine-tuned for fairness; some for the better, others for worse. For example, everyone will have a dash, a double-jump, an air dodge, Smash attacks, 4 special techniques, different jumping heights, different fall speeds…the list goes on. Also, everyone gets a damage percentage. This will increase when you are attacked, or in some cases, when you are using your techniques. The higher it goes, the more gravity is lost when you are attacked. Use the damage to knock your opponents out of the arena. If you can do this 3 times, you advance to the next round. Along the way you will discover ways to decrease your damage percentage, but I won't get into detail. Let's see…did I forget anything? Oh, yes. If you win any match, you are awarded with Smash Coins, each coin being worth 1,000 times more than your currency."

Everyone started murmuring again.

"If you lose, you must stay at the mansion until the tournament is over. Sorry for that exhaustive explanation. Now…does anyone have any questions?"

Bowser Jr. raised his hand.

"Um…do you have anything against alter egos?"

"If Zelda can do it, so can you," Master Hand answered.

"Yes!" Bowser Jr. cheered.

"Anyone else?"

Final Destination was silent.

"Good. Well, then…" Master Hand snapped, and a tournament tree hologram appeared in the background. It wasn't very fancy. It had pictures of all the participants, and both sides that the fighters were on said North on the left and South on the right. There was a crown above the final fighter's square. There was also a large gray circle separated into 2 big segments and 2 small segments in the background.

The fighters observed which divisions they were in, and who they were fighting against.

"Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has begun. The first match is…"

_Not going to be revealed until next chapter. This tournament's setup is a little mixed-up, but you'll get the hang of it. This story is feedback generated, just like Luigi's Experiment. The more reviews I get, the quicker the tournament will go._


	2. Dante vs Roy

_Yes! Time for the battle even I was waiting for. So far, 80 percent of the reviewers already like this story (one was neutral, but I'm looking to change that). Also, just in case you didn't get it, these are all the participants from each series. Of course, there are 50 in total, but I'm only telling the new characters. (Shadow Mario counts as a character, just like in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour.)_

Mario

Bowser Jr./Shadow Mario  
Daisy  
Diddy  
Wario  
Waluigi  
Baby Mario  
Baby Luigi

Star Fox

Krystal

Kirby

Meta Knight  
King Dedede

Banjo-Kazooie

Banjo

Devil May Cry (3)

Dante

Viewtiful Joe

Joe  
Silvia

Pokemon

Raichu

Sonic

Sonic  
Tails  
Knuckles  
Shadow  
Amy  
Rouge  
Espio

F-Zero

Black Shadow  
Phoenix

_Got it? Good. SSBU continues…now._

"The first match is…Dante…"

The white haired young man rose. "Against...?" he said.

"Versus…Roy."

"I'm ready," Roy said, walking to the center. Dante did the same. The rest were silent.

"The randomly selected stage was Hyrule Temple." Behind Master Hand, an overview of the stage could be seen in place of the tournament table.

"I hope Roy wins this one. He doesn't look too dangerous," said Ness.

"You shouldn't underestimate newcomers. And if we're lucky, Roy knows this as well," said Falco.

"Are you two ready to battle?" the colossal hand asked, his voice still booming.

"Yeah, I'm ready. Let's get it over with," said Dante.

Roy only nodded.

"Very well." Master Hand snapped, and with a quick flash, Dante and Roy were gone.

"Everyone focus your attention on the screen behind me. This is where you can watch the battle. If you don't want to, or you don't care, fine by me. I'll be back when the match is over."

With that, Master Hand floated straight up and disappeared. When he left, several people moved closer to the center to watch the battle. The exceptions: Samus, Mewtwo, Meta Knight, and Shadow. The rest found a spot to sit or stand. Mario and the group had gotten a front-row seat, right next to Sonic and friends.

"So, what do you think of this so far?" Mario asked the blue hedgehog.

"Sounds fun. It's about time I get paid to save at least 1 world," Sonic replied with a smile. Good news. He was friendly.

"What's your name?" asked Mario.

"I'm Sonic the Hedgehog. If I had more space, I'd show you how well my name suits me."

Mario looked down at Sonic's shoes. They looked most suited for running.

"I think I can assume," said Mario.

"When we get to this mansion, I'll introduce you to my friends. Of course, one of them doesn't like me too much…" Sonic said.

"Sounds good, Sonic."

"So, what do they call you?"

"I'm Mario. I was a semi-finalist in the previous tournament and the victor of the first. So you better be careful…"

Sonic smirked, and the conversation was over. The match was about to begin.

* * *

"Ready?"

An announcer-like voice called out to Dante and Roy, who were appearing at Hyrule Temple on individual platforms. They both nodded and landed several feet away from each other.

"GO!"

The match was underway. Dante drew his sword, Rebellion, and pointed the tip at Roy.

"What are you waiting for?" said Roy.

"I just want you to know, before the battle really begins…" Dante smirked. "I'm not totally human."

In a blink of an eye, he was charging towards Roy at an incredibly high speed. He seemed to be gliding, charging sword-first. That attack had to be powerful.

But it didn't really matter, because Roy blocked it just a mere fraction of a second before contact.

"Do you have a point?" Roy asked. Dante sighed and tripped Roy.

"Not anymore. Get up."

Roy tried to stab Dante from the ground, but he jumped up and, increasing the speed of his fall, did a downward midair slash, doing considerable damage to Roy and knocking him back a little. Roy growled. He ran towards Dante preparing for a low slash. But before it could be executed, he was hit by a ball of light about his size, and was knocked back pretty far.

"Are you going to hit me anytime soon?" Dante yelled (Roy was knocked behind the wall in the center of the stage).

No response.

"How rude," Dante said to himself, walking towards the wall. When he reached the edge and was about to jump, Roy popped out and threw a red and white ball at him, which narrowly missed. Dante observed the ball land right by his foot and open up, releasing a bright flash of light.

"What now?"

A large, beautiful blue bird suddenly appeared, surrounded by snowflakes. It spread its wings, and before he knew it, he was frozen solid and knocked out of the stage. One life lost.

"Sucker," Roy said. Dante was revived on a different platform, and he landed immediately.

"What the hell was that?" Dante asked, smiling for some odd reason.

"That," Roy said, jumping on the platform behind him, "was one of your three lives gone."

"Looks like I'm gonna have to even that out." Dante pulled out a purple guitar flowing with electricity. Roy was puzzled.

"A guitar? You actually plan on fighting with that thing?" He jumped off the platform and headed towards Dante.

"No," Dante said, tuning up. "I plan on rocking with this thing. Come on."

"You asked for it!" Roy rushed towards Dante for the second time, ready to avoid anything he dished out. But what he encountered wasn't anything.

Dante got on his knees and played many chords, summoning a tornado of bats and electricity that Roy was too late too avoid. The pain was intense; as he was being carried upward, the bats were biting him and he was getting shocked all at once. When the final chord was struck, Roy was knocked out of the arena with a solid 43 percent damage. One life lost.

"Glad I can still use that move." Dante put away his guitar, Nevan, and took out Rebellion. Roy was revived and landed immediately.

"I'm not letting you win this battle!" Roy said.

"You took the words right out of my mouth." Dante threw Rebellion directly at him, but Roy sidestepped just in time to avoid it. He ran toward an unarmed Dante and slashed. It actually connected. Roy followed with a Blazer. That connected as well, and Dante was knocked to the highest platform of the level. Roy followed him and did a sweep while he was still down. That also connected.

"Still think you're gonna win?" Roy asked a downed and damaged Dante. He caught his returning sword while he was still on the floor.

"Yep."

Roy was shot 5 times and knocked off of the platform. Dante propelled himself up, Ebony and Ivory in his hands. He looked over the edge of the platform. Roy wasn't there. Dante scoffed and turned around. He noticed a glowing purplish-white sword in front of him. He didn't hesitate to pick it up.

"What are you doing down there?" Dante yelled.

No response.

"Don't make me come down there…" Dante taunted.

No response, just a twinkling sound.

"Okay, ready or not…" He rolled under the platform he was on. The first thing he saw was Roy with his sword behind his shoulder and glowing white. Before he realized what was going on, there was a scream, an explosion, and Dante was engulfed in flames. And another life was lost.

Roy sighed. "This isn't too hard."

Dante was revived and landed.

"Feeling good about yourself? Huh?" he said, obviously pissed.

"You only have one life to live, and I plan on taking it," Roy said with a smirk. He blinked, and Dante was above him, slashing him 4 times in midair, dealing 4 percent a slash. Roy regained momentum, and then Rebellion got lodged in his leg. He almost yelped in pain. He tried to walk, but the pain was too great. He was hit with a spinning uppercut and flew straight up. When he landed, Dante yanked Rebellion out of Roy's leg. He smirked as Roy slightly screamed. Then he stepped on Roy's back, shot him about 7 times, and kicked him forward. So far forward that another life was lost.

"Tiebreaker," he said, not even breaking a sweat.

Roy was revived and landed immediately.

"You're quick. Much quicker than me…" he admitted.

Dante chuckled a bit. "One life to live. Let's see which one doesn't."

"Sure. Gimme your best shot!"

Dante charged straight at Roy and, just remembering the Beam Sword he was holding, pelted Roy in the face with it and hit him with a Stinger (the dashing forward stab from earlier). Roy quickly retaliated with a Double-Edge Dance, then a quick Flare Blade slash. Dante was knocked behind a crate. He broke it, and out came a Home-Run Bat. He picked it up, and Roy gasped.

"Hmm. I can only guess what this does." He rushed toward Roy and made a good hard swing. As soon as he hit him, Dante was engulfed in flames and knocked back. He got back his momentum.

"What did you just do?"

"All you need to know is that when I do it and you hit me, you will be attacked with one and a half times the force."

"Interesting." He threw the bat at Roy rather quickly. He luckily caught it.

"If I hit you with this with the right strength, I'll have won."

"You're not going to hit me with that."

"Well, we'll see, won't we?"

Dante groaned. "Just hurry up."

Roy tried to jump over Dante, but he was hit with another Rising Dragon (that spinning uppercut from earlier), then shot several times as he landed. He did another Stinger when Roy landed. And was engulfed in flames.

Dante: 73 percent. Roy: 62 percent.

It was really down to the wire now. Dante had had enough.

"This is taking too long. I just hope I'm still able to use this." He closed his eyes and his form made a drastic change. His clothing was gone, his skin was mostly dark red and blue, he had wings, an aura…he basically looked like some sort of devil.

"What the hell are you?" Roy asked.

"The winner," Dante said with a slightly echoed voice. When he ran to Roy, it only took half the time. He started stabbing Roy quickly and repeatedly. It was all Roy could do to block each one. He would Counter, but it was happening so fast. After 6 seconds of blocking, Dante did a very hard, and very quick stab.

The Sword of Seals was knocked out of Roy's grip.

Roy watched in horror for a second, then tried his best to get a Home Run. But Dante did an upward slash, almost ending Roy's last life. When the Devil Trigger ended, Dante's damage had increased by 20. But he didn't care.

Roy was on top of the platform above Dante. He walked to the edge and jumped up to the platform. He caught the bat when it was just centimeters from contact and launched it back at Roy, then fell back down. Roy sidestep dodged the bat.

But not the explosion.

The bat had hit a Bob-omb that Roy (and even Dante) didn't notice. The explosion knocked Roy out of the arena. Dante had won.

"Game!"

_The next chapter is another battle. Hope you liked this one, cause there's gonna be a lot more…_


	3. Baby Mario vs Pichu

_Okay guys. Time for the second battle…_

Dante and Roy rematerialized at Final Destination. Dante seemed to be quite calm and cool, while Roy was visibly humiliated. He didn't think it possible that someone could be so…lucky.

"Wow…that guy's strong," said Luigi, watching Roy as he slowly walked back to the group, who were still in front of the area where the battle was. Roy sat next to Link.

"He was so…damn…lucky." For some reason, Roy couldn't stop looking at his own hands.

Link patted Roy's back in comfort, but said nothing, as did the rest of the group. About 2 minutes later, Master Hand returned to start the next battle.

"Roy…for shame…" the huge hand said, giving Roy a huge thumbs-down. "Dante moves on to the next round."

"Really? So that's how tournaments go?" Dante said scathingly as he sat in the corner.

There was silence for several seconds.

"…I'll let that remark go," Master Hand finally said.

Dante scoffed.

"The next battle is…Baby Mario…"

The Mario of the past jumped up, cheered, and gave Baby Luigi a high-five.

"Versus…Pichu."

Pichu quickly rose. He extended his short paw towards Baby Mario.

"Good luck," he said. Baby Mario shook Pichu's paw and smiled.

"You too!" he responded. Pichu smiled in return, and the two walked to the center of the platform.

"The randomly selected stage was Hailfire Peaks. Are you two ready to fight?"

The two kids nodded in unison, with a "grown-up" confidence.

"Good."

Master Hand snapped and the two fighters disappeared. The large group shifted their focus to the large screen.

"I hope he'll be alright," Peach said, her voice brimming with worry.

"He'll be fine!" Mario proudly exclaimed. "He's a Mario, and Marios always pull through!"

* * *

(In case you haven't played Banjo-Tooie, Hailfire Peaks is a combination of a fire zone, with a volcano and a fire dragon named Chilli Billi, and an ice zone, with a glacier and an ice dragon named Chilly Willy. Pichu and Baby Mario were transported to the Icy Side, which consists of a large platform covered with ice and 3 smaller platforms, in Battlefield fashion, covered with snow. The platforms hover above the top of the mountain where Willy dwells, right above the ice-cold water. Get it? Good. Back to the battle.)

Baby Mario and Pichu appeared on their respective platforms: Baby Mario on the left platform, Pichu on the right. Baby Mario shivered. The coldness up there was no joke.

"Ready?"

The two nodded, and they landed in the snow.

"GO!"

Baby Mario shivered again. The freezing cold was accompanied by a chilly breeze. But he had to focus on the fight. He looked straight ahead, at Pichu. But Pichu wasn't there.

"Hey! Where'd he go?" Baby Mario looked up. Pichu was diving towards him head-first, spinning and emitting small amounts of electricity. Baby Mario quickly sidestep dodged, and Pichu landed on his head. With this opportunity, the baby Italian started punching him repeatedly, causing minor yet consistent damage. He started laughing as he punched.

"This is fun!" he exclaimed, now ignoring the cold.

Pichu jumped back, ran towards Baby Mario, and tackled him. Baby Mario fell onto the main platform, which was incredibly slippery. He immediately jumped back up to the platform above him.

Pichu did a double-jump towards Baby Mario, this time doing a forward somersault. Baby Mario retaliated with a hard, standing, spinning uppercut. Pichu was knocked up slightly, then hit by the same attack, _then _grabbed and flung over the baby's head. Pichu easily recovered, but was now at about 43 percent damage. Baby Mario awaited his return. As Pichu landed in front of him, Pichu spun quickly on the ground, catching Baby Mario with his kick and sending him flying to the right. Baby Mario backflipped back onto the stage, onto the main icy platform. Pichu followed him and tried to hit him with a quick Skull Bash, but missed by a few inches. As he landed in front of Baby Mario on his side, he was hit by a hard spinning slide kick and was almost KO'd.

Pichu now hung onto the edge of the slippery stage for one of his dear lives.

"I got you!" Baby Mario exclaimed as he walked toward the dangling rodent, trying not to fall. Pichu waited for his chance to attack. But just as Baby Mario was about to reach him, the stage began shaking.

"Uh-oh..." Baby Mario said.

The sound of rushing water could be heard. Something was coming out of the water.

"Oh, great. Now what?" Pichu said, still hanging on.

A loud roar was heard, and a blue-and-white dragon in the background was doing the roaring. His tongue was green and forked, and he looked irritated. The two fighters stared at him, wondering what he would do next. The dragon quickly inhaled and quickly shot a large ball of ice at Baby Mario.

He was frozen solid, and had taken moderate damage. (He was now at 41 percent.)

"Oh, fine." Pichu jumped back onto the stage and approached the frozen baby, who had a look of pain on his face. Pichu hit him with a hard headbutt (Upward Smash) knocking him up, and while he was airborne, he jumped up at hit him with another one of his somersaults. Baby Mario's frozen self lost a life. Pichu silently cheered.

Baby Mario was resurrected at the top platform. He had no clue what had happened.

"Hey! How da heck did I get up here?"

Pichu jumped up to Baby Mario's level.

"That dragon froze you, and I knocked you out."

"Oh."

Baby Mario then emitted a quick, loud cry that both hurt and temporarily stunned Pichu. With this opportunity, Baby Mario KO'd Pichu with another one of his spinning slide kicks. Baby Mario noticed that a flower slightly taller than himself had landed behind him. He picked it up and observed it.

"Wonder what this does..?"

Pichu was resurrected and immediately went after Baby Mario, trying to put his temporary invincibility to use. But since Baby Mario dodged all of his attacks, it was for naught. When that was over, Baby Mario hit Pichu with the flower repeatedly. As he hit, a flower sprouted on Pichu's head and grew in size with each impact. Pichu tried to shake it off, but Baby Mario's continuous punches hindered him. Suddenly, the ice dragon roared again and he moved closer to the platform.

"Not again..." Baby Mario said, stopping his attack to watch.

Chilly Willy stuck out his forked tongue and swept the top platform. Pichu and Baby Mario jumped over it, but it quickly came back and knocked them both far to the left. They flew at pretty much the same speed on the same trajectory; now it was a simple matter of who would KO who first.

Pichu was able to KO Baby Mario with a quick somersault. He was resurrected for the final time.

"Oh, man!" Baby Mario whined as Pichu used Agility to get back on the stage. When he made it, he grabbed the capsule he landed behind and tried to pelt Baby Mario in the face with it. But Baby Mario caught it and threw it at Pichu. The capsule revealed a Screw Attack.

"What's that?" Baby Mario asked himself.

Pichu jumped back onto the left snow-covered platform, where the Screw Attack had landed, and picked it up. He jumped towards Baby Mario, flipping quickly and covered with electricity. He caught him in both the first and second jumps, and hit him with the ball right after, knocking him up further. Pichu quickly landed and used Thunder on the airborne infant.

Baby Mario was shocked repeatedly and almost KO'd.

Pichu repeated.

Almost there.

One more time...

Baby Mario was screaming, flying into the background. Pichu sighed in relief as the announcer spoke.

"Game!"

_That took a while...but that was fun._


	4. Krystal vs Daisy

_Third battle time…I already know the competitors of all of the rounds. The victor…I'm still thinking about it…_

Pichu and Baby Mario rematerialized at Final Destination. Pichu walked back over to his large group with a large grin on his face. Baby Mario did the same, though he was much less happy, and his body still felt cold. Mario created a small fireball with his hand and Baby Mario warmed himself with it.

"You fought good. I didn't think you'd actually knock me off!" Pichu said, making an attempt to bring the baby some cheer.

"Ah, you got lucky. Watch! Next time I'll kick your butt!" Baby Mario said, trying to be serious. He failed when he began laughing 3 seconds later. Pichu accompanied his joy.

"I hope we get to fight soon," Tails said with a sigh.

Master Hand returned.

"Well…the returning champion moves on to the next round."

There was some muttering, as some of the newbies didn't know that Pichu won the second tournament. One of them was especially surprised by it.

"Are you joking? _That_ won the previous tournament?" Black Shadow asked aloud.

Pichu was offended. "Hey! I'm not a 'that'!"

"You're right. You're too puny to be considered anything!"

"You shut up!" Pichu was emitting small electrical sparks and was about to attack. Black Shadow held his fist forward as it became engulfed with electricity.

"ENOUGH!"

Master Hand's voice halted the would-be rumble, and now, there was silence.

"Not now. If you want to tear each other's throats out, do it at the mansion. Not here!"

Black Shadow said nothing and returned to his spot, while Pichu quickly sat, also saying nothing.

"Now, if you people are ready…the next battle is Krystal…"

The beautiful blue fox rose, staff in hand, and Fox clapped once.

"Versus…Daisy."

The auburn princess quickly stood up. Unlike her best friend, Peach, she was wearing her tennis clothes.

"Wish me luck, Peach! You too, sweetie!" Daisy exclaimed.

"Good luck!" Peach and Luigi said simultaneously. Krystal and Daisy walked to the middle of the platform, awaiting the match. They disregarded each other; they barely even looked at each other.

"The randomly selected stage was Corneria. Are you two ready?" Master Hand asked.

"You know it," Daisy said. Krystal nodded, and the two disappeared. The large group focused their attention on the screen, while the rest had scattered actions. Those who looked looked.

* * *

Krystal and Daisy appeared on their respective platforms, Daisy on the right, Krystal opposite her.

"Ready?"

The two landed on the Great Fox.

"GO!"

Daisy ran towards Krystal, about to tackle. Krystal jumped up, avoiding it, and did a backward somersault, kicking Daisy in the face. She was knocked back a little, but she shook it off and came charging again. Krystal tried to whack Daisy in the face with the staff, but Daisy did a hard drop kick, knocking Krystal back a little. While she was recovering, Daisy grabbed her by the head, kicked her in her shins twice, and headbutted her. Krystal was at the ship's nose.

An Arwing shot at Daisy four times in succession. Daisy jumped twice, so each shot missed. Krystal fired a ball of energy at Daisy as she landed. It connected, and Daisy was slightly electrocuted. She was knocked to the edge of the tail fin. Krystal rushed toward her. The two jumped at the same time, but Krystal was able to get a good staff whack at Daisy's midsection. She was knocked down to the ship's boosters.

"Ow…" Daisy said as she rubbed her belly.

Krystal jumped into her area with her staff pointed straight down. The stab attempt missed as Daisy quickly jumped backwards. Krystal swung hard with her staff, aiming for Daisy's head. She was hit and almost flew out of the stage. When she landed at the very edge of the ship, Krystal shot Daisy with another energy ball, KO'ing her.

Daisy was revived. Krystal jumped on top of an Arwing and rode it. A Maxim Tomato appeared at her feet. She picked it up, and she was completely healed (though she didn't know it).

"What'd you just do?" Daisy asked.

"I think I just healed myself." Krystal jumped down before the Arwing KO'd her, and the battle continued.

Daisy grabbed Krystal and gave her a German Suplex. When Krystal got up, she began poking Daisy repeatedly with her staff. This continued for 14 seconds, until a Wolfen shot them both. Daisy had taken moderate damage, as opposed to Krystal's low damage. Krystal landed first, and Daisy landed near her. Daisy kicked Krystal in the head as she rose. Then, when she and Krystal were both on their feet, she did a standing backward somersault, kicking Krystal twice and knocking her straight up.

She almost died.

As Krystal fell back to the ship, Daisy extended her palms upward. A pillar of flowers (accompanied by twinkling noises) lifted her quickly. She was able to KO Krystal before the pillar ran out.

Krystal was revived. Daisy looked around, checking for anything that could help her. She spotted a floating star 3 feet behind her. She dashed toward it and picked it up. She was sent flying in circles incredibly quickly as she held on as tight as she could. Krystal watched her, wondering what the hell was going on. Daisy flew straight up, and that was when Krystal realized what was happening. The explosion set Krystal on fire and caused a good deal of damage. It sent Daisy forward, with the height of a normal jump. She landed at the edge of the nose, where an Arwing shot her. Krystal quickly followed the airborne princess and did her third downward aerial stab, which knocked Daisy straight down.

Right into the Great Fox's shot. Daisy was KO'd, then revived as Krystal got back on the ship.

"Did you die yet?" Daisy asked.

"Yes. About a minute ago," Krystal answered.

Daisy sighed and shrugged. "At least I did _something_."

She threw a small daisy at Krystal which grew bigger and slower as it traveled. Krystal tried to jump over it, but it was too big. It hit her, causing 10 percent damage and a flower to sprout on her head, sucking her energy slowly. She tried to shake it off, but Daisy began punching Krystal with boxer-like speed. After several punches, she quickly knelt and tripped Daisy. While she was grounded, Krystal pointed her staff at Daisy's head and created a small blue explosion. It hurt Daisy a lot and knocked her onto the front of a Wolfen, which shot her in the back, knocking her up even further. Perfect time for Krystal to get that Motion-Sensor Bomb Daisy didn't see. She ran over to it, picked it up, threw it in front of her, turned around, and watched Daisy get up (she already fell).

_Let's see if she saw it…_

Daisy charged for Krystal. Again. She was about to tackle her, but Krystal jumped as soon as Daisy was an inch away. The princess was caught in the explosion, and sent flying above the still-airborne fox. She swung her staff vertically with a forward somersault.

That ended it.

"Game!"

_That was refreshing. Happy Halloween! _


	5. Bowser vs Raichu

_3 down. 22 to go. And that's just for the first round…_

Krystal and Daisy rematerialized at Final Destination. Krystal was happy, of course.

"I did it! I defeated her!" she rejoiced, walking back to the large group.

"You did great," Fox said, standing. The two mammals hugged, kissed, and sat. Falco made fake gagging noises.

"Wow! That was so much fun!" Daisy exclaimed, running back to the group and sitting, almost falling backwards. "Even though I lost, that was such a rush! I bet I could beat even you, Luigi!"

The aforementioned Mario Brother laughed nervously, as he realized that this could be a fact. But since she was eliminated, it would (hopefully) never be discovered. Master Hand returned.

"In the first female fight of the first round, Krystal moves on."

"Nice alliteration there," King Dedede commented.

"Thanks. Shut up."

King Dedede grumbled, saying something about disrespect and royalty.

"The next match is Bowser…"

"Good." King Bowser Koopa rose. "Whose butt do I have to kick this time?"

"Versus…Raichu."

The final version of Pichu stood, silent as…well, take a guess. He and Bowser approached the middle of the platform, and each other. Raichu looked at Bowser with a cocky smirk. Bowser glared back and growled quietly.

"The randomly selected stage was the Viewtiful Award Ceremony. Are you two ready?"

"Yeah, sure," Bowser said, still glaring at Raichu, who nodded. The creatures disappeared, and most of the fighters paid attention to the screen, especially Pichu, Pikachu, and Bowser Jr.

* * *

(The Viewtiful Award Ceremony is where the very last level of Viewtiful Joe 2 takes place. This battle takes place on top of a blimp. It is about 2/3 the size of the Great Fox, and is dark blue and purple with the pink words "Viewtiful Award" imprinted on the side. It is nighttime and starry, and there are multicolored fireworks going off in the background.)  


* * *

Bowser and Raichu appeared on their platforms in the middle of the blimp, with Raichu on the left, opposite Bowser.

"Ready?"

The two landed; Bowser's landing was a thud.

"GO!"

Raichu took the initiative and hit Bowser in the nose with his long tail (creating the sound of a whip cracking). Bowser retaliated with two quick slashes of his claws. Raichu stepped back and emitted a Thunder Jolt, with two others immediately following it. All 3 hit and shocked Bowser. Raichu then ran toward the beast and tackled him headfirst. Bowser, who was only knocked back a few inches, quickly punched Raichu in the face. He ran to the right end of the blimp, near the edge of the tail fin.

"Tryin' to run from me, huh?"

Bowser began running toward the rodent (yes, he can run, and for his size, pretty quickly), making the blimp bob a bit. Raichu got ready. He placed one foot back and crouched slightly. Bowser roared and prepared to seize Raichu.

But Raichu jumped over him. The grab missed.

"Just like last time…" Bowser said with a sigh. In this brief period of disappointment, he was hit in his spiky-shelled…shell…by Raichu's tail, and was now hanging onto the edge of the blimp, causing it to point diagonally upward. He jumped up (reverting the blimp to normal) and over Raichu.

Big mistake.

"Rai!" 3 lightning bolts hit Bowser, each after the other, and he was knocked straight up.

Big mistake.

Bowser turned sideways, lifted his short legs, and performed a Bowser Bomb. Raichu luckily sidestepped and caught Bowser with a strong backflip kick much like Fox's (except Raichu used both feet and then his tail). Bowser lost a life, and Raichu chuckled. Bowser was resurrected.

"This is gonna be tough…" he realized.

Raichu picked up a nearby barrel and chucked it at Bowser, (obviously) unaware of Bowser's brief invincibility. Raichu launched 3 Thunder Jolts. Bowser quickly picked up the Mr. Saturn that appeared and blocked each shock. Then he threw the alien at Raichu. He picked it up and threw it at him over and over and over and over and over and over again. Raichu had accumulated a damn good deal of damage. Knowing this, Bowser threw away Mr. Saturn and, doing an upward swipe, KO'd Raichu.

He was revived. And frustrated. He grabbed Bowser, shocked him repeatedly, and jabbed him with that long tail of his, knocking him slightly backward. Then he spun around quickly with his tail extended, hitting Bowser twice, hard. _Then _he jumped toward him and kicked him in the face. Bowser was a bit woozy now. Raichu noticed some sort of red-and-black controller-looking object behind Bowser and attempted to jump over him to reach it. But Bowser used his Whirling Fortress technique to knock Raichu up and claimed the item for himself. When the rat recovered and was standing, Bowser picked it up.

Several orange lightning bolts crashed down within a 7-foot radius of Bowser, the controller vanished, and Raichu was stunned. Bowser used this opportunity to use his Koopa Claw to scoop up the rat, bite him several times, and throw him backwards. Bowser then started scorching him for a little while. Raichu was surprised that the beast could breathe fire. He was relieved that it couldn't last forever. Bowser stopped and tried to hit him with an incredibly strong head butt.

Raichu started slapping Bowser repeatedly and relentlessly with his tail. The hits were quick and weak, and there seemed to be no end. Bowser tried to block, but he was too slow. Raichu was happy now, and he stopped slapping him 18 seconds later, when Bowser had gained 42 percent damage. He did another backflip kick, and Bowser lost his second life.

"Okay, I'm mad now," he said when he was brought back. Raichu looked around for an item. There was a Pokeball right behind him. Great, he thought, familiar faces. He picked it up, jumped to avoid Bowser's fire, and threw it on the floor right behind him. A Rayquaza came out, roared, and flew straight up.

"What the hell?" Bowser thought, looking up. He remembered that he was fighting and went after Raichu. Raichu kept running away, knowing what Rayquaza would do.

"Stop running away from me!" Bowser roared, jumping towards Raichu, ready to swipe. Raichu smirked.

Rayquaza was in the background, flying toward the blimp. His mouth glowed yellow, and a Hyper Beam was fired at Bowser. It hurt a _lot_. One hit. 50 percent damage. Instant KO. Raichu had won.

"Game!"

_Ding! Time for Mario Superstar Baseball! I think these chapters are getting shorter. That's bad..._


	6. Meta Knight vs Young Link

_I decided to do this first. The PIE Chronicles will come after._

Bowser and Raichu rematerialized at Final Destination. As soon as they got back, they heard something that startled both of them, loud and constant.

Laughter.

"Ah, shut up!" Bowser roared, knowing that it was all directed at him. Raichu smiled, enjoying every second of his recognition, and walked back to the group. Bowser stomped back to his spot, grumbling, as the laughter slowly dissolved into low chatter.

"That was…good fighting," Pikachu congratulated. Raichu nodded.

"Thanks."

"Oh, so _now_ you start talking, huh?" Pichu asked. Several others chuckled.

"I had nothing to say, that's all."

"So, what? Are we friends or...?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, sure. We're friends," Raichu said with a smile. Then he looked around. "Here, you need as many as you can get."

"That's always good to hear," said Peach.

"I lost again…" Bowser said regrettably. His son looked up at him in sadness, though he knew stuff like this happened often. "Luck is not on the evil side, son. Makes me wonder why I even try." He pounded his fist on the metallic floor. "It sucks!"

"Don't worry Papa." Bowser Jr. stood. "I'll win for us! Then we'll be so rich and powerful, the Mushroom Kingdom'll be small potatoes! Just you wait!"

Bowser was a bit moved by his son's undying determination. He ruffled his hair and smirked. "That's my boy! My little dictator." Bowser Jr. chuckled.

Master Hand returned.

"Raichu moves on to the next round. Bowser…" The hand sighed. "First Pikachu, now this guy. What is it with you and rats?"

Bowser said nothing. He only shrugged.

"Whatever. The next match is Meta Knight…"

The Kirby-sized, masked creature with the yellow, jagged sword stood up, awaiting his opponent.

"Versus…Young Link."

The Hylian pre-teen with the green tunic and the small sword stood and walked to the platform's center, as did his opponent. They glanced at each other, Young Link chuckled, and they both looked at Master Hand.

"The randomly selected stage was Bowser's Castle. Are you two ready?"

The two swordsmen nodded and disappeared. Link wished his younger counterpart good luck, as well as the rest of the large group.

* * *

(This Bowser's Castle is taken from Mario Kart Double Dash! and takes place at the top, near the slowly spinning spikes. The entire level is the top of the left half of the castle; from the right tower with the spikes to the toxic water all the way to the left. Yes, there is a race going on.)  


* * *

Meta Knight and Young Link appeared on their respective platforms. Each hovered over the top of the parallel towers, with Meta Knight appearing over the left tower.

"Ready?"

"Does it matter?" Young Link asked as his and his opponents' platforms vanished.

"GO!"

The two swordsmen stared at each other, each waiting for the other to make a move. They ignored the engines below them and the thunderclap-accompanied lightning in the background. Their focus was fixed. Somebody had to jump. Young Link took out a bomb.

_I'll get him to jump._

Meta Knight made a horizontal slash with Master and a small, quick tornado about Young Link's height headed towards him. It was yellow and gravity-resistant. Young Link reluctantly jumped and launched his Bomb at Meta Knight. He jumped as well and stabbed Young Link with blinding speed from a distance, then rushed to him in mid-air and slashed him, knocking him back on his platform and causing 21 percent damage. At this time, Young Link discovered that this creature's cape could transform into a pair of bat wings.

Meta Knight was now at the lowest point of the level, wedged between the towers. Young Link plummeted towards him, Kokiri Sword pointing straight down. Meta Knight rolled forward (dodging the sword), turned around, and roundhouse-kicked him. Young Link quickly struck back with a quick diagonal slash, a quick horizontal slash, and a hard vertical slash that knocked Meta Knight back. Now that he was cornered, Young Link proceeded to stab the hell out of him. For 30 seconds. That was how long it took for a capsule to appear on Meta Knight's tower. They both heard it, but Young Link got to it first using 3 Wall Jumps. Meta Knight jumped up and was hit by the capsule, revealing a Star Rod, which Young Link picked up. Meta Knight did an air dash over the young hero, landing in a small, flat area.

"Hey! Don't run!" Young Link said, following him and launching a regular-speed star at him, which he easily blocked. This event repeated 6 times; Young Link was trying to break his shield. Eventually, Meta Knight jumped towards him, then double-jumped over the rod that was launched at him and dived towards him, Master extended. Young Link rolled backwards.

Close combat commenced. Master and the Kokiri Sword met 14 times. Apparently, Meta Knight was a combo specialist. Plus that tornado. Young Link found it difficult to keep up with this experienced creature, which was the reason for Meta Knight's sweep hitting him and knocking him up a bit. Young Link kicked him on his way down, then jumped up and hit him with his Boomerang. He landed again and jumped immediately, preparing to stab him up and out.

It didn't work.

Meta Knight attempted another dive, and the two swords repelled each other. The force knocked Meta Knight up a little, but Young Link waited until he landed. When he did, they ran towards each other, each trying to get a hit. Young Link's diagonal slash connected. With Meta Knight airborne _again_, he attempted his previous "up and out" routine. It worked. Young Link laughed a little as Meta Knight died and came back. He noticed a barrel and a crate behind Young Link and went to break them. (They were close to his tower.) 4 items appeared: a Green Shell, a Metal Box, a Flipper, and a small ball containing a small, round, black, toothy, chomping creature. The last interested both fighters. Meta Knight picked it up first. Young Link stood his ground, waiting for the strange item to be used. It was thrown right in front of Meta Knight, and the ball, in a puff of smoke, revealed a large, round, black, toothy, chomping creature that had a chain attached to its back and was moving toward Young Link at high speed through hops. It happened so fast, he couldn't jump over it and was tackled head-on. If there wasn't a small tower at the far left of the castle, he would've perished.

Instead, he was severely injured and had a pain in his back from the impact.

"I hate this guy…" he said in a strained voice. He was on the flat area next to the said tower, face up. He was dazed and sore all over, and could hardly stand. To make matters worse, Meta Knight was rushing toward him, completely metallic, with Green Shell in hand. Young Link struggled to get to his feet. The shell was thrown. Young Link managed to dodge with a sidestep. But he forgot about the ricochet thing and was struck in the back. Now it was 2 lives to 2 as Young Link was resurrected. Meta Knight was already at his own tower, waiting for him.

Young Link managed to keep away from him until the metal effect subsided and fighting him would actually make sense. He was also able to retrieve the Green Shell that KO'd him. Meta Knight grabbed the Flipper. (They were both on the flat area between the other two.) Young Link chucked his item first. Meta Knight jumped over it and threw his item. He was disappointed that it only flew about 3 ½ feet and hovered there doing nothing. Young Link jumped on the shell (stopping it) and picked it up again, then ran towards his opponent. Meta Knight projected another tornado at him right before the shell was thrown.

Or rather, would've been thrown.

Young Link jumped right before the tornado was projected, threw the shell at Meta Knight, and hoped that it would hit. It did. Now he could barrage this bastard. And that's what he did.

Young Link landed quickly and grabbed his opponent with his Hookshot (when he landed, of course). He bashed his masked face with the hilt of his sword several times, then gave him an elbow drop. Immediately after that, he hit him with his Boomerang. He jumped up to his airborne victim and kicked him. He trailed him and repeated. He hit him with a Bomb. He stabbed him upwards. After that onslaught, Meta Knight had accumulated close to 70 percent damage and was now on top of the tower furthest left.

Young Link, of course, followed him.

_He really wants victory._

Meta Knight prepared himself as Young Link jumped up to the tower. The space was tiny, so both fighters had to attack as fast as possible. Master and the Kokiri Sword met 17 times. Young Link managed to get a good diagonal slash followed by an even better diagonal slash to the opposite side. (Guess what move that was.) Meta Knight finally lost another life. Young Link headed for the Party Ball two flat areas ahead. Meta Knight watched everything. He watched the ball be thrown. He watched it rise into the air. He heard a fanfare that seemingly came out of nowhere, and he saw the ball open. Out came 4 Bob-ombs. Young Link grabbed one and, naturally, headed towards Meta Knight. He jumped up and threw the bomb hard.

It was sent back, by a tornado, hard, and it hit. In fact, Young Link was hurtling toward the doom zone; the bombs began walking in different directions. He quickly regained control of himself and used his Spin Attack to carry him up and forward. It would've worked too. But Meta Knight dashed toward his airborne victim and, with a mighty vertical swing (his Meteor Smash), knocked him straight down, hard and fast. Young Link landed in the middle of the doom zone, face down. Each Bob-omb walked toward him calmly, as if their fates mattered none. The 3 simultaneous explosions, joined by the loud thunderclap, created an exceptionally loud boom.

1 life to live for each fighter? Who would overcome?

Young Link landed on his tower, opposite Meta Knight. The two exchanged determined, fiery glares. Then they jumped at each other. Their horizontal slashes repelled each other. They landed and did the same. This time, Meta Knight performed an aerial spinning dive propelled by his wings. It knocked Young Link back on his tower with multiple hits. Meta Knight landed in between the towers. When Young Link got up, he jumped in, holding a Bomb. Meta Knight attempted a quick vertical upward slash, but Young Link double-jumped even quicker and threw the Bomb at him. He loaded a flaming arrow into his bow, pulled the string back a tad, and fired weakly, but successfully. Then he took out a large glowing nut and threw it on the ground. The flash rendered Meta Knight dizzy. His downward stab worked this time around.

On Meta Knight's way down, he did a backflip kick to Young Link, followed by a quick thrust, repeated jabs, a tornado, and a grab-and-stab (exactly what it sounds like). Young Link bounced off both walls and was knocked up by an overhead (or in Meta Knight's case, overbody) swing.

"No! Not that easy!" Young Link cried, flying up high. He was almost KO'd. As he fell, he looked for any items that could help him save his final life. A Pokeball, a Home-Run Bat, a Cloaking Device, Food, just something incredibly useful. He found a Fan and a Fire Flower. Not that good given his current situation, but he made do anyway. Meta Knight jumped off his tower and dived toward Young Link, who had just landed just below him. 2 inches before impact, Young Link rolled towards the flower and picked it up. Meta Knight was in the perfect position for a perfect burning, and he knew this. He jumped over Young Link.

Or rather, tried to.

Young Link jumped at the exact moment his opponent did, hit him with the flower, grabbed him, waited for the flower to land, kicked him towards the wall, and unleashed the flames. Meta Knight was totally helpless. He endured the burning for the 10 seconds it lasted. After that, the flower hit him again before he could attack. He was at 76 percent damage. In order for this guy to be eliminated, Young Link needed some type of strategy. As he backflipped away from a life-ending combo, he thought of something brilliantly simple.

He ran away from Meta Knight. Confused, Meta Knight trailed behind him. Young Link picked up the Fan as he ran past it to the tower furthest left. He jumped to the top. Meta Knight did the same. Right before he landed, the Fan hit him. Because it was thrown hard, he was on the 2nd highest point of the level, and he was unprepared for the throw, the match was over.

"Game!"

_That retyping took about 2 hours. At least my battles got long again. And…I wanted Meta Knight to win. But the coin is almighty. Praise the two sides. Yeah, for incredibly close battles, I flipped a coin. And this was incredibly close._


	7. Joe vs Marth

_Sorry this took so long…_

Meta Knight and Young Link rematerialized at Final Destination. Many of the other fighters that had been watching the battle were downright stunned. Meta Knight looked as if he had years of experience with the blade. And yet a kid beat him. Just like that, with a throw of a Fan. Had Meta Knight gone easy on him, or was he fairly bested? In either case, most of the large group was proud of Young Link. Meta Knight returned to his spot on the platform, saying nothing. Master Hand reappeared soon after.

"Young Link advances to the next round, of course."

There was a brief moment of silence.

"…The next match is Joe-"

Joe cleared his throat loudly. "It's _Viewtiful_ Joe. Okay?"

"_Joe_…versus Marth."

Roy looked over at Marth, who stood up, brandished his divine sword, and walked to the center of the platform. Joe stood up as well.

"Silvia, wish me luck."

"Good luck honey." Silvia blew Joe a kiss. An anonymous person booed, probably Bowser or some other villain. Joe joined Marth in the center. His helmet underwent a slight change; his eyes now glowed yellow behind a clear blue visor, and some type of metallic mask protected his face.

"The randomly selected stage was Aeropolis, Dragon Slope. Are you two ready?"

"Let's get it on," said Joe.

The two disappeared. Silvia prayed that Joe would emerge victorious, while Roy hoped that Marth would do so.

* * *

(Aeropolis, Dragon Slope, is a racetrack in F-Zero GX's Diamond Cup that takes place in a city littered with absurdly tall, futuristic-looking skyscrapers. The track is so high, the ground is out of view. It is daytime and fairly bright, even though the sun is nowhere to be found.)  


* * *

Joe and Marth appeared on their respective platforms. They were a few feet in front of the starting line, and the race had not yet begun.

"Ready?"

The two landed.

"GO!"

Marth dashed toward Joe, ready to slash. Joe backflipped just in time to avoid the strike, and before he landed, he performed a diving corkscrew kick that hit Marth twice. In response, Marth stabbed Joe in the leg twice in succession.

"3!"

The two looked at the F-Zero machines, which were hovering above the ground and starting their boosters.

"2!"

The two wondered how they were to avoid all these racers.

"1!"

The two felt themselves become a _little_ taller.

"Go!"

The racers shot through the starting line at a speed much quicker than the machines Marth remembered. Luckily, a platform, paneled and semi-transparent like the actual track, picked up the two fighters and carried them up several feet before they got hit. The two watched the machines drive straight, then make a left turn to a sideways track, then make another left turn to an upside-down track right above them. They almost forgot that they were battling because of the ultra-high speed machines.

Well, at least Marth did, because he got hit by a sharp, spinning Voomerang, multiple times. Marth turned around to see Joe's V-Emblem regenerate. The two were at opposite ends of the platform. They dashed towards each other. But as Marth neared Joe, he could swear that time had slowed down significantly. He was right. The stage had dimmed. The Slow VFX was in effect. Joe did a sliding kick. His entire foot glowed pink; if that connected with Marth, it probably would've hurt much more than normal. So Marth jumped over it (in slow motion, of course). Joe stopped under him and performed a spinning jump. The twirling pink glow surrounding him made him look like a drill, but Marth Countered just in time, breaking the Slow VFX. Joe fell on his back, but quickly propelled himself up.

The platform began to move. It traveled through a short blue tunnel and into a very wide-open space, where only a few layered strips of racetrack floated. It stopped in the middle of the space, between the 2nd and 3rd sets of strips, and the fight resumed.

Marth and Joe walked toward each other. Joe started punching Marth rapidly with both hands when he got close enough. Marth backed away from the punches gradually and struck with a swift Shield Breaker slash, followed by an even swifter Dolphin Slash. While Marth regained footing, the airborne Joe double-jumped above Marth and prepared to stomp on him with both feet together. The pink glow surrounding his legs made them look like a falling stalactite. Marth executed a rolling dodge forward (or right, from a typical in-game view), but the shockwave following the landing still further damaged him, though slightly. It also destroyed a Capsule that revealed a Freezie. Joe grabbed it and waited for the right time to throw. Marth, who had already gotten up, waited for the right time to dodge.

A faint whistling sound was heard, and a slight rumble was felt. The racers were coming. Most of them had jumped the platform, but 5 made it incredibly close to the platform. 1 hit each fighter, yet due to the damage percentage, Joe flew up higher.

The platform began to move. It moved further over the track, over the moving, flying traffic. It rotated 180 degrees and headed for the part of the track that led straight up, next to the Neo-Uranos machine. The platform approached the side of the pumping structure and slowly rose.

Marth caught the Freezie and threw it back at Joe. The Slow VFX went into effect, and Joe caught the item, waiting once more for a good time to throw. At this time, Joe noticed that activating Slow hurt him a bit. As the platform rose around the Neo-Uranos, the two fighters approached each other cautiously. Joe shifted his leg. Marth dashed forward, Falchion glowing blue at his side. Once the distance between him and Joe reached a foot, Marth swung quickly, unleashing a wave of blue energy as tall as Joe. Unfortunately, Joe had rolled behind Marth just in time, and the Freezie connected. Marth flew up. Joe jumped up after him and kicked him forward. Marth fell all the way down.

The frozen swordsman lost a life. As the platform neared the giant metal ball (the supercomputer that created the city, Mother-Q), Marth was revived. He didn't want to lose to a newcomer the way Roy did.

Joe grabbed the Maxim Tomato that appeared in front of him, bringing his damage percentage down to 17. Marth hit him with a Forward Smash, from his sword's sweet spot. Marth jumped up after Joe and hit him with a double slash. Joe utilized Slow and performed his corkscrew kick, except now, his legs flamed. Marth Countered and ended Slow for the second time.

The platform traveled along a rising, twisting road. The F-Zero machines returned, threatening neither fighter. The platform traveled through heavy traffic, threatening Marth. As Joe double-jumped to reach it, a passing bus hit Marth hard. He flew over Joe's head with 25 percent damage. Marth double-jumped to reach the platform, which was about to pass through an area containing the F-Zero audience (bleachers from the future, you could say). Marth was about to land safely, but Joe did a Slow axe kick, knocking Marth diagonally downward. He hit the moving track, was knocked straight up, and hit by a Voomerang. Slow ended. Marth attempted to use a Dolphin Slash to save himself.

He grabbed the edge of the platform, which had just passed through the crowd area. Joe awaited his total recovery. Eventually, Marth did a somersault from the ledge and dodged the drilling jump. He landed behind Joe, turned around, and began slashing Joe repeatedly, fluidly. Joe couldn't escape the barrage, but he could counter it. Slow went into effect. Marth slashed. Joe dodged in midair (viewtifully, might I add) and struck a pose. A bright flash of light knocked Marth away as loud cheering and applause came out of nowhere. Slow ended and Marth landed on his feet.

The platform crossed the finish line and retreated into the racetrack.

Marth discovered some type of large, transparent capsule with a picture of a lightning bolt in it. He destroyed it with Falchion and was instantly covered in an electric barrier. Joe realized that he was being dragged toward Marth, and so did Marth. So he walked toward Joe, smirking. Joe launched a Voomerang at him, but he swatted it away with his sword. He continued walking; Joe continued being dragged. He didn't want to risk attacking him directly, so he jumped up and stomped on the floor, hoping the shockwave would get him.

It didn't. Marth had already jumped, and Joe was dragged right under him. Marth landed on Joe's head, creating a small, electrical explosion. Joe flew almost straight up, electrified, and almost lost a life. He fell back down quickly. Very, very quickly. Marth felt a fairly strong gust of wind as Joe landed. The Mach Speed VFX had been used.

The platform began to rise. Marth's barrier had gone with the explosion, and this increased speed was confusing to him. He walked toward Joe at twice his normal speed and attempted a Forward Smash. Joe jumped over him, landed, and jumped again, doing a backflip. Marth fell onto the track quickly, and, since Mach Speed also took effect on the level, the platform traveled into the tunnel quickly, leaving Marth to be knocked up a bit, then fall down and lose another life.

Mach Speed ended when the platform went between the 2nd and 3rd sets of strips. Marth was revived, on the platform, and on edge. He would _not _go down like this.

"You _are _going to die at least once before this match is done." Marth pointed Falchion's tip at Joe.

"Jeez, man, calm down. You can't be all about winning; you'll never get anywhere."

"I'm not mad that I'm losing. I'm mad that I'm losing to an amateur like you."

The two heard faint whistling and felt a slight rumble.

"I may be new at this, but…an amateur? I'm hurt that you would say that."

"Really?"

The two began dodging the racers that would've hit them. When it was over, the platform began to move toward the Neo-Uranos.

"Yeah! I mean, I've been fighting for a while. And I don't mean to brag, but I kick some serious butt."

Marth sighed. "I don't care." He placed Falchion at his side. "Continue."

Joe sighed in annoyance. "Whatever, dude."

Falchion glowed blue as Marth charged at Joe. He released the wave unexpectedly early and it hit Joe. Marth didn't know exactly how high Joe's damage had gone, but the wave KO'd him. The platform began rising around the Neo-Uranos, and Joe was resurrected. 2 lives to 1, with equal damage on both sides, a flat surface…and a Cloaking Device. Joe activated Slow and the two fighters raced to pick up the item in the center of the platform.

Joe reached it first.

Marth swung ahead blindly, hitting nothing. He felt Joe grab his hips and knee him in his leg a couple of times. Then he was thrown to the ground and bounced once. As Marth landed face-up, he felt a sharp blow to his head, knocking him forward a bit. Marth stood and could just barely see Joe's figure. Marth attempted his Dancing Blade. The first strike missed, but the following three connected.

The platform approached Mother-Q.

Joe was visible again, and had taken 10 percent damage from his VFX usage. He threw a Voomerang at Marth, who sidestep dodged. It didn't work because the flying emblem did a complete loop and hit him anyway, knocking him to the edge. Joe performed a sideways spinning kick to Marth before he could regain momentum, hitting him multiple times and knocking him straight up. Joe followed his flight, grabbed Marth in midair, and threw him up further. Joe landed.

The platform rose along the twisting track.

Marth knocked Joe against the floor with a fierce downward slash prior to landing. Joe kicked Marth in the face prior to _his_ landing. Marth double-jumped back onto the platform. Joe gave Marth a hard gut-punch that knocked him into a glass-protected bleacher. He bounced back onto the platform and skidded to the edge opposite Joe's. Joe jumped up and did a diving kick, which he called the Red Hot Kick. Marth jumped up to avoid it, and Joe landed right on the edge. Marth tried his downward slash once more, but Joe's sideways spinning kick broke through it and knocked Marth directly forward, almost ending the match. Marth double-jumped, did the first part of the Dancing Blade, and used the Dolphin Slash to reach the edge of the platform.

But Joe used a Slow axe kick, knocking Marth down into the blast line.

"Game!"

_Oh well. Two Fire Emblem characters against two Capcom characters, and the latter two won both. Huh. Like I said, sorry this took so long. _


	8. Falco vs Dedede

_Sorry this took so long to put up, especially seeing how short the battle actually is._

Marth and Joe rematerialized at Final Destination. Joe's headgear reverted to normal, Silvia cheered loudly, and Marth walked back to his large group, not saying a word.

"Joe, you were viewtiful as ever!" Silvia hugged Joe tightly.

"Yeah, yeah!" Roy called out from across the platform.

"Why don't you mind your business?" Silvia snapped back. Roy was about to get up, but quickly stopped himself. Chatter resumed until Master Hand returned 10 minutes later.

"Joe moves on to the next round."

"You _really_ should stop saying that," suggested Wario.

"It's tournament protocol. And some contestants aren't paying attention to the displayed fights."

"Oh. Right."

"Shut up."

"Fine…" Wario began grumbling about size and teaching people lessons.

"…The next match is Dedede-"

"Hey!" Dedede yelled.

"What?"

"It's _King_ Dedede, fool!"

"1. Don't ever call me a fool again. 2. I'm pretty sure you're not really a king."

"But I am!"

"Versus…Falco."

"Yes!" Falco whispered. He gave Fox a five and rushed to center stage. Dedede soon reached it as well, grumbling something about size and teaching people lessons.

"The randomly selected stage was Mushroom Hill Zone. Are you two ready?"

The two birds nodded and vanished. Many of the fighters were against Dedede for some reason.

* * *

(Mushroom Hill Zone is the first level of Sonic & Knuckles and the seventh in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, my favorite Sonic/Genesis game to date. It's basically a gigantic forest with various badniks, tall mushrooms, and very tall sequoia-like trees. This stage takes place atop dark orange mushrooms with white spots. There are 8 of them (the largest, slightly bigger than the Fountain of Dreams' main platform, being in the center), each varying in size and height.)

* * *

Falco and Dedede appeared on their respective platforms, on the center mushroom. Both fighters looked around the level.

"Ready?"

The two landed.

"GO!"

Falco started things off by shooting the large penguin-like creature with his Blaster. This rendered Dedede almost immobile due to the flinching (Falco's been practicing, and his ground Blaster fire has gotten 1.8 times faster). This also pissed him off more than he already was. Eventually, Dedede Power Shielded, sending a laser right into Falco's beak. Before he could resume, Dedede struck the ground in front of him with his hammer, causing Falco to rise a considerable distance while also dealing 10 percent damage. Dedede followed him by jumping once and puffing up like Kirby 3 times, and attempted a mighty hammer swing that would knock Falco down to the ground (Meteor Smash).

This ended up happening.

When Dedede got close enough, Falco used his Reflector to knock him straight up. Immediately afterwards, he double-jumped and used his Fire Bird…to KO him.

"That was quicker than last time," he said as he landed on the center mushroom. Dedede revived.

"If you think I'm fallin' for that again, you can go get another think!"

Dedede threw his hammer at Falco. It was easily reflected back, but Dedede caught it and threw it again even quicker. Falco Reflected and held. Dedede repeated, throwing the hammer faster and faster each time. After the 9th throw, the Reflector couldn't take any more. It shattered, knocking him up 2 feet (over the hammer's 10th throw). He landed and got up stunned. 3 seconds later, the returning, supercharged hammer struck Falco in the back, dealing a whopping 82 percent damage and KO'ing him instantly.

In the first 30 seconds of the match, both fighters had lost one life.

Falco was resurrected. "Okay…not doing that again."

"Yeah, I bet."

Dedede pounded the ground once more. Falco jumped to avoid the impact. Dedede ran towards him at a speed only slightly faster than Kirby's. When he was close enough, Falco unleashed a Phantasm, knocking him up. An aerial Phantasm followed soon after, knocking the king to the mushroom below.

Falco landed on a small mushroom beside the huge one, a few feet away from where Dedede was getting up. He picked up the Crate he landed behind and tossed it backwards. Dedede smashed it to bits with his hammer and picked up the first item he laid his beady little eyes on. A Super Scope.

Falco couldn't help but be happy. He moved to the edge of his mushroom. Dedede charged the shot. When it was fully charged, Falco initiated his Reflector. Dedede fired, sadly aware of his mistake. A split-second later, he was ablaze, flying dangerously high. Luckily, he didn't lose a life, but Falco followed his flight along the mushrooms. He soon found himself on a mushroom so tiny only he could stand on it.

Dedede fell fast, about to strike with a mallet swing. Falco jumped, about to strike with a Fire Bird. Before the flaming falcon could hit, Dedede canceled his attack and double-jumped. Immediately afterwards, he stomped straight down with immense speed (about twice as fast as Yoshi's Hip Drop). Falco fell straight down, just missing the mushroom and hurtling to his 2nd death. Inches away from the KO zone, he double-jumped and proceeded to Wall Jump back up, using the parallel mushrooms' stems.

Dedede wouldn't have any of it. He attempted a risky stomp between the mushrooms. His timing couldn't have been worse. Falco Wall Jumped to the side and quickly initiated a Fire Bird. This kept him afloat long enough for the stomp to totally miss, causing the king to lose his 2nd life. Falco made it back to the tiny mushroom from its edge.

2 lives to 1.

Dedede was revived. And pissed. He launched his mallet at Falco whilst running towards him. Falco short-hopped over it and kicked Dedede in the beak. He promptly grabbed Falco with one hand, allowing him to catch the returning hammer (which went through Falco). He tripped him and body slammed him, then rolled backwards and struck the ground quickly with his wooden weapon, causing a large yellow star to fall on the fallen Falco. He got up and Blasted Dedede 4 times, and followed up with a jab-jab-rapid kick combo.

A Parasol appeared behind Falco. He ceased the barrage and picked it up. Another mallet blow to the ground knocked him up far, causing the Parasol to fall into the wrong hands.

Falco flew to the mushroom furthest right, which was just big enough for both fighters to stand on. As he propelled himself to his feet, Dedede puffed toward him. Falco opened repeated fire, stunning the king each time. He still managed to approach his enemy. Right when Falco ceased fire, Dedede spun once, mallet extended, causing Falco to fly dangerously close to death. He jumped back to the mushroom.

Directly into a Para-sault. Dedede kept Falco airborne with consistent Parasol strikes (and he struck quick). When he was done with light hits, he swatted him hard. Falco flew up, a bit diagonal, almost to the KO zone again…

But not quite.

Dedede growled and puffed after his victim. Falco performed a downward drill kick that knocked Dedede in the direction his leg was pointing: a downward, diagonal, slightly forward flight, back onto the mushroom. Falco fell fast, and while the king was grounded, he used his Reflector to knock him up. Once airborne, he drilled him again, onto another mushroom. This repeated all the way to the edge of the huge mushroom, where a nest of Red Feathers rested. Falco picked it up, ignoring the red sparks circling his body. He attempted another drill. Dedede got up and sidestepped, causing Falco to fall into another gap. At the lowest possible point, he double-jumped.

Then triple-jumped and kicked Dedede right in the stomach.

Then quadruple-jumped and drilled Dedede onto the mushroom.

Falco landed quickly, gathering all of his strength and charging a Forward Smash. He kicked him while he was still grounded, sending him soaring and screaming into the background.

"Game!"

_I'll try to update again before the month ends. Maybe more will review this battle._


	9. Baby Luigi vs Zelda

_More fighting…more fights…_

Falco and Dedede rematerialized at Final Destination. Dedede was about ready to snap, so he quickly walked over to his area beside Bowser and took deep breaths (he didn't feel like dying right then at Master Hand's…hands…you get it). Falco chuckled as if he already could tell the outcome before his opponent was even revealed. He walked back to the large group, giving Fox and Krystal fives.

"2 for Team Star Fox," he said, sitting.

"Bet we could tie that," Knuckles said. He hadn't really talked in a while.

"We can only see," inquired Tails. "But yeah, we probably could. If the right people fight the wrong ones, anyway…"

"What do you mean, 'right people'?" asked a suspicious and slightly irked Amy. Tails stammered trying to find a right way to answer. But Master Hand reappeared, luckily.

"Falco moves on to the next round."

"You expected _him_ to win?" asked the still cocky Falco.

Dedede took deeper breaths.

"Of course I'm not telling you. It's not important."

Falco scoffed. Dante saw a bit of himself in that bird.

"The next match is Baby Luigi…"

"Avenge our team, okay?" Luigi asked his younger self.

"I'll try…" Baby Luigi quavered, standing up.

"Versus…Zelda."

Zelda sighed and stood up. She brushed off her dress. The last thing she wanted to be doing was fighting tots.

"I have to fight the pretty lady? Aw, man…"

Baby Luigi and Zelda (who laughed a bit at her opponent's question) walked to center stage. They didn't look at each other; Baby Luigi was too shy and Zelda awaited the arena.

"The randomly selected stage was Whispy Woods. Are you two ready?"

Zelda nodded. Baby Luigi missed the question before the two vanished. Luigi hoped his younger self didn't lose too badly, if at all.

* * *

(Whispy Woods, in this case, is the actual woodland from the Kirby games where Kirby fights Whispy and, on occasion, 2 smaller trees similar to him. This level features these three trees in the background, in a sunny, dense, flat, open area in the woods. There are no platforms or pits.)

* * *

Baby Luigi and Zelda appeared on their respective platforms. Both first noticed three trees with faces on the barks to their (left for Baby Luigi, right for Zelda) side. The largest one in the middle Zelda had seen before, but the other two were new.

"Ready?"

The two landed.

"GO!"

Zelda started things off with Din's Fire, which Baby Luigi found stupendously pretty. He watched the warm, small, glowing fireball float towards his face. He almost wanted to touch it. But it disappeared before his very eyes, and exploded into a ball of fire.

This pretty lady didn't play.

Baby Luigi got in gear. He ran towards the princess and lunged his head forward. Zelda hopped back and gave him a good Lightning Kick. She jumped toward him, trapped him in a magical bubble (her hands now shone blue), and landed. Baby Luigi tried desperately to break away, but he found himself being slammed against the grassy ground 3 times, shocking him upon impact. After the slams, the bubble vanished, leaving the baby on the floor, on his back.

Whispy looked angry.

Zelda waited for Baby Luigi to get up. While she waited, a large root from underground unexpectedly stabbed her. As a slightly dazed infant stood up, he saw Zelda using Nayru's Love on a giant root trying to destroy it or make it retract into the earth. He saw this as his chance. He ran toward and jumped over the root and drop kicked the princess right in her stomach. She managed to land on her feet, but Baby Luigi stomped on her head, sending her on her back.

Zelda transformed into Sheik while she was on the floor and stood up. Then Baby Luigi kicked her on the side of her ankle, knocking her back to the floor. He giggled right before both of them got hit by exploding apples. Sheik was knocked above a Capsule, whereas Baby Luigi almost died. Sheik launched her item at the baby, who jumped to avoid the explosion.

Unluckily, a root that curled and got him in the back also stabbed him. He didn't get knocked back very far, and the damage wasn't too great either. But the temporary immobility led him to be hit by _another_ Capsule, which revealed a Lip's Stick. Sheik grabbed it and pursued Baby Luigi, still airborne. He fell quickly, attempting another stomp. Sheik quickly sidestepped and hit the infant once, lightly, with the stick. A life-draining flower sprouted on Baby Luigi's forehead. Before he could take a shot at ridding of the damned thing, Sheik performed a low sweeping kick that knocked the baby 8 feet up. Right after that, she jumped up and punched.

Baby Luigi flew in a straight line to his first death. Sheik wasn't really too proud of herself, but she _did_ want to win. And she had her reasons.

Baby Luigi was revived. Dying _hurt_, and though he knew it might happen, he didn't want to go through that 2 more times. Time to get aggressive.

He ran towards Sheik. She ran away from him at an equal speed, towards the KO zone. Soon she found herself flying towards it, ablaze, wondering what exactly that baby did.

He had performed a flaming tackle while he ran. Like his future Green Missile, its knock back was excellent, but it was hard to do. It KO'd Sheik pretty easily. He celebrated his luck by cheering. However, he failed to notice the increase in wind on his back. Both of the smaller trees were blowing in the same direction. By the time he knew what was happening, he had died once again.

Sheik landed and turned back into Zelda. Baby Luigi was revived soon after, in front of her. Farore's Wind teleported Zelda several feet backwards, near the other KO zone. Baby Luigi picked up a Bunny Hood that was behind him and ran with incredible speed towards Zelda, trying another tackle.

Zelda grabbed him with magic. The baby knew what was coming next. She shocked him twice, and then twirled him around while turning around. She threw him to his early defeat.

"Game!"

_That was the first time Sheik has ever appeared in any of my stories (that exists now; Celebrity Interviews had Sheik). That was also the first time I've referred to Sheik as a female in a long time. That's meant to be a male disguise, as Sheik is called a "young man" in Ocarina of Time. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it._

_Another baby bites the dust…_


	10. Captain Falcon vs Banjo

…_What can I say? This took way too long._

Baby Luigi and Sheik reappeared at Final Destination. Sheik morphed back into Zelda and rejoined the large group. Baby Luigi followed slowly, filled with shame. Why was Team Mario losing so much? It wasn't…normal.

"Aw, don't worry. Someone else should pull through for us," said Luigi, trying to comfort both his past & present form. For the first time in his short life, Baby Luigi cried quietly. Zelda became disgusted with and ashamed of herself. She watched Baby Mario go over to talk to his little brother; he too was watery-eyed. Anything she could've said or wanted to say she couldn't find.

Aside from the babies, the group was silent until Master Hand returned almost 10 minutes later.

"Zelda moves on to the next round. Bet she feels mighty proud of herself right now."

Bowser, his son, Dedede, Black Shadow, and Dante couldn't help but chuckle. Zelda sighed sadly and said zilch.

"Get over it, Princess. The next match is Captain Falcon…"

"Wait. Not fair. He gets a Captain and I get stuck with Joe? Come on," Joe complained.

"Joe, it's not that serious," Silvia urgently whispered. Master Hand sighed wearily.

"It's a matter of respect. Superheroes like us deserve it."

"Hey! If he wanted to, Master Hand could kill both of us right now without a second thought. He doesn't have to respect any of us."

"You know what?" Master Hand interrupted. "If it'll shut you up, I'll add…Viewtiful…" He said it with venom. "to your name in the next round."

Joe cheered quietly. Silvia sighed.

"Versus…Banjo."

"Wait, Banjo's here too?" Diddy hadn't seen Banjo before or read the tournament board. The honey bear rose, noticed Diddy (also for the first time), and waved. They hadn't seen each other since Wizpig was defeated a few years ago. Diddy waved back happily. When Banjo reached center stage, a bird's head popped out of his backpack. It shocked a few people.

"That's the monkey you keep talking about?"

"Yeah Kazooie, that's Diddy Kong."

"Oh."

"The randomly selected stage was Death Mountain. Are you two ready?"

Falcon, Banjo, and Kazooie nodded and vanished together.

"Don't remember the bird," said a puzzled Diddy.

* * *

(Death Mountain, located in Hyrule, is where Goron City lies. It is also where Link encountered and defeated Volvagia, the Subterranean Lava Dragon, with the Megaton Hammer. Technically, this rocky level takes place above the mountain's crater. It is a floating, slightly undulating platform made entirely of rock, with only two smaller platforms hovering on each side. It is twice the size of the Fountain of Dreams.)

* * *

Captain Falcon and Banjo appeared on their respective platforms. The heat, which came from the lava below, caused the atmosphere to appear wavy.

"Ready?"

The two landed on the small platforms.

"GO!"

Falcon got a short running start and jumped toward Banjo, ready to deliver a Knee Smash. The move was canceled when Kazooie grabbed him and started pecking his head rapidly. After several pecks, she threw him straight up and spit a Grenade Egg at him, which hit and exploded.

Falcon was already at 26 percent damage. He landed on his feet, atop the small platform to the left, in Banjo's view. He jumped toward him and accidentally welcomed a Falcon Kick. Falcon jumped backwards with a kind of cartwheel, fell fast, and stomped on the still-blazing bear, knocking him on his stomach fast and hard. He landed by Banjo's head. As he rose to his feet, Kazooie pecked at both sides, catching Falcon in the leg and knocking him on his back.

Banjo turned around and crouched. Kazooie stuck out her rear, and 2 crystallized eggs, Ice Eggs, emerged from it. The eggs bounced; the undulation helped them move a bit faster. They were weak, but both froze Falcon solid. Banjo reversed his crouch and performed a sliding tackle, with Kazooie's beak in his shoulder's place. The impact shattered the ice and resulted in Banjo backflipping and Falcon standing on the small platform above.

There was a faint roar.

A blue, spiked shell appeared behind Banjo. He picked it up and threw it at Falcon. Upon release, the shell sprouted long, white wings and flew straight up, then flew around in a few circles. Both fighters watched it for the four seconds it lasted. Without warning, it dive-bombed Banjo, creating a blue explosion with a fairly large radius that just barely missed Falcon. Banjo was knocked up high, but didn't die, with 20 percent additional damage. Falcon waited for the bear to descend.

He was descending pretty fast, right above him. Falcon passed through the platform before Kazooie drilled him to hell. Then he jumped and Kneed them away from the stage. He got a running start and jumped after the duo, prepping another Knee. Banjo regained his momentum and Kazooie flapped 3 times. Each flap hit Falcon, and the final, strongest flap sent him flying backwards, KO'ing him. Banjo used a bird-assisted backflip and a Beak Bomb (basically, the duo rose a foot, then flew straight ahead like a red, sparkling missile) to get back to the stage. And a Maxim Tomato, which Banjo used immediately.

Falcon was revived and rarin' to go. He prepared a Falcon Punch.

"Falcon…"

Well, it looked like it.

"WAVE!"

It was noticeably faster. Falcon's flaming fist struck the ground, releasing 2 flaming falcons that traveled along the undulated land at relatively high speed. Banjo let Kazooie fire 2…Fire Eggs at the falcons. They went right over them, resulting in Falcon blocking the eggs and Banjo taking 10 percent from each falcon. Off-stage, Falcon jumped toward him and stomped him. Banjo fell to his death quickly, while the captain easily recovered.

The roar got closer.

Banjo now stood on his revival platform. Kazooie jumped out of the backpack completely; a Red-Crested, purple-eyed Breegull not much shorter than Falcon, while Banjo landed. Since Kazooie seemed to be the driving force of the duo, and the main offense, Falcon went after her. Well, he wanted to, but Banjo scooped him up with his backpack and launched him upward, into Kazooie, who was spinning with her wings extended, striking Falcon repeatedly. He & Kazooie landed at the same time; immediately upon landing, Kazooie grabbed Falcon. She pecked at his head while Banjo swiped away at his back. The damage rose at an unfairly fast rate (8 percent per second, & the attack lasted 7 ½ seconds).

The roar got even closer, and the stage began to rumble.

Kazooie smacked Falcon away with her wing. Then Volvagia rose up from the crater. It was long and snake-like (like I said); scaly; red with an orange underside; wingless, but it had long arms with hands and claws; and long, flowing flames for hair. The top of its head was made of stone; its eyes were turquoise, and it had horns that bent backwards. And it, like most dragons, breathed fire. It also flew rather slowly, and started to circle the level. Falcon watched it while he recovered with a Falcon Dive. Kazooie fired blue eggs (Regular Eggs) at him, but they missed, and Falcon grabbed the ledge. The duo rejoined, and Falcon jumped up. Banjo did the same and was hit by a stomp. He landed on his hands and rolled to the left.

Volvagia breathed fire at Falcon. It burned him repeatedly, dealing 30 percent damage and knocking him diagonally upward. He lost his second life while Banjo picked up a golden ring.

Falcon was revived. He used a Raptor Boost on Banjo, but a ring flew out of him and he was only knocked back slightly. He took no damage and was blinking for some reason. He used a Beak Barge (the sliding tackle) while invincible and hit Falcon. Volvagia started to descend. Falcon, for the first time, grabbed Banjo and slammed him into the ground. He bounced forward and Falcon repeated, then jumped after him and Kneed him.

A blast of fire from below burned Banjo, dealing the same amount of damage and knocking him upward. He didn't die.

Falcon picked up a Starman and became invincible. Banjo slowed his descent with Kazooie's repeated triple flaps. When he landed, Falcon still had 8 seconds of invincibility left. He Boosted Banjo back up and Kneed him again. He ran after him while he was flying to the left and Kneed him again, KO'ing him.

Volvagia struck the bottom of the level with his head, tilting it a bit to the right.

Banjo was revived. He landed quickly and Kazooie launched a Grenade Egg at Falcon out her rear. He sidestep dodged it easily, but was hit by an unseen second one. This wasn't good. His damage was too high, and this team was too dangerous. And the dragon wasn't helping much either.

Falcon, who was airborne, did a double kick and fell quickly. Banjo was hit by the second kick, but he quickly recovered and Kazooie grabbed him. She threw him upward and spit an Ice Egg at him, freezing him. Falcon escaped the ice and attempted to stomp the duo. Kazooie pecked upward quick and hard, and both attacks managed to connect. Falcon was knocked straight up and almost lost his final life.

Volvagia used his head to revert the level to normal.

Banjo noticed a Capsule, ran to it, and tumbled into it. A Pocket Chomp appeared. Banjo remembered what this thing did to Young Link and gleefully threw it to the ground. A puff of smoke. A baby Chain Chomp.

"That's not right…" Banjo wondered.

The baby was fast, but not as fast as the adult. It didn't tackle the opponent like the adult either. It latched onto Falcon's leg and didn't let up. It hurt, gradually. Falcon didn't need this at all. He was at 103 percent and counting.

Banjo and Kazooie split up again. Falcon quickly went after Kazooie and Kneed her. He landed on a small platform and used his downward Smash. Then he Kneed her again. Kazooie tried spinning back to the level…but was Kneed _again_ and killed.

This, Falcon needed.

Banjo tried scooping him up, but Falcon rolled out the way and Forward Smashed him.

Banjo tried swiping at him, but Falcon jumped over the swipes and stomped on him.

Things were looking up. Even the baby Chain Chomp let go.

Banjo attempted a tumble and missed. Falcon thanked him by Falcon Kicking him.

Falcon ran away, to the edge of the level, and smirked. This would be the finisher. He noticed Banjo smirk as well, as hurt as he was. Falcon cracked his knuckles and prepared to run. Banjo stood there, waiting.

Falcon ran a short distance and jumped. Upon jumping, he initialized a Falcon Punch.

Banjo stood there, waiting.

"Falcon…"

Falcon had this in the bag.

"PU-"

Never mind. Banjo spun his backpack around in a complete circle, which had more reach than the Falcon Punch, and ended up hitting him. And ultimately winning.

"Game!"

_See? It's not dead after all._


	11. Phoenix vs Black Shadow

_I know this took hella long. That's because this battle was hella hard to write. No lie._

Captain Falcon and Banjo rematerialized at Final Destination. Falcon wasn't too shaken up about his loss. He felt he did excellent, especially against such a well-harmonized duo. In the spirit of sportsmanship, he shook Banjo's paw, wished him good luck, and rejoined the group. Banjo also decided to join it; being alone with Kazooie was getting boring.

"You two did great out there! I didn't think you'd be so good on your first try," Diddy congratulated. Banjo sat next to him and DK. Kazooie's head emerged.

"That's cause we're experts at creaming our enemies."

"Kazooie, your modesty amazes me," Banjo "complimented".

"And it should."

Absolutely no one bothered to explain to Kazooie what modesty was. Banjo sighed.

"Anyway, Diddy, what have you been doing since-"

"Not too much. But Mario _finally_ decided to invite me to some of his events."

Mario laughed nervously.

"Those were pretty fun."

"I saw Tiptup recently."

"Really? How's he doing?"

"He's doing well. Has kids now; mostly daughters, but still."

"No kidding."

"Have you talked to anyone else?"

"Except for Timber, I kinda lost contact…"

"That's too bad."

"Yeah, it's dreadful. Gonna introduce me yet?" Kazooie chimed in.

Master Hand returned.

"Banjo moves on to the next round."

There was a brief, awkward moment of silence. Then:

"I killed more," Kazooie muttered.

"I got killed less," Banjo uttered.

"…The next match is Phoenix…"

The man clad in black spandex rose. Captain Falcon was assured of his racing ability, but not of his fighting prowess.

"Versus…Black Shadow."

The man clad in black spandex rose. Captain Falcon felt that he'd be in Round 2 if he had fought him instead.

"Ooh. Black Shadow. How original," Bowser, Dante, and Kazooie sarcastically stated at once. The three glanced at each other and smirked. Black Shadow ignored them and focused on crushing this worm.

"The randomly selected stage was Cloud Cuckooland. Are you two ready?"

Phoenix and Black Shadow nodded and vanished.

* * *

(Cloud Cuckooland, the last actual stage in Banjo-Tooie, is THE strangest, weirdest, and most surreal video game level ever created…you know, in my opinion. The base of the stage is a giant pinkish mountain situated miles above the Isle o' Hags. Surrounding it are multiple lone rock platforms, varying in size and color, with some floating on clouds themselves as well as others protruding from the mountainside. There is a large, red jelly castle at the lowest point of the level. There is a large pot of gold with a solid rainbow bridging it and the mountain. There is a giant garbage can. There is a drained basin made of brown rock. There are two skulls that are used as huts: a pink metallic one (real) and a blue metallic one (fake). There are two bramble paths used as platforms, one of which is accessible with a beanstalk. There is a giant moldy cheese wedge. Enemies include giant wasps ("Zubbas") and hostile Eyeballus Jiggium Plants (inside the mountain are even weirder foes). Near the top of the mountain is a Zubba nest and at the very top lies a Zubba statue. Now to describe the _actual_ stage. The flat, main platform is purple and supported by clouds. The single platform hovering in the middle is made of jelly. The two platforms hovering on each side, slightly above the middle platform, are blue (left) and green (right). The platform hovering at the top-middle is purple with a bramble coating. The main platform is a bit smaller than Final Destination.)

* * *

Phoenix and Black Shadow appeared on their respective platforms: Black Shadow on the lower middle platform, Phoenix in front of him, to the right.

"Ready?"

The two landed.

"GO!"

Black Shadow rolled under the jelly platform. It was a slow roll, because it was jelly. Phoenix waited & observed his surroundings. Their level was circling the mountain, from its base upward. He could see a red jelly castle just below them. When he started to focus on Black Shadow, he saw an electric blue ring headed straight toward him. It shocked him, wrapped itself around his waist, and quickly floated back to Black Shadow, who was charging a head butt. His horns were being enveloped in electrical, dark energies. Phoenix couldn't break free in time. The head butt connected rather dramatically (it slightly shook the stage), dealing 28 percent damage and breaking the ring, sending Phoenix flying back to the right platform, shocked and darkened.

"That was uncalled for," he said, ready to retaliate.

Black Shadow jumped up and threw another ring at Phoenix, who jumped over it and shot at his enemy with his hand. To his surprise, a burst of flames emitted from his index and middle fingertips, and, to add to the surprise, it hit and dealt 14 damage.

The stage was now flying slowly above the giant garbage can. Two Zubbas joined the battle. Black Shadow managed to grab and wield one of them. Phoenix dodged the free one's dive and wondered how and why these things could be used as weapons.

The level returned to normal speed.

Black Shadow chucked his Zubba at Phoenix like a dart. It actually hit the other Zubba, sending both crashing to the ground headfirst. Phoenix laughed at his opponent's horrendous aim and ran towards him. Black Shadow was getting ready to punt him. (Yes, you read that correctly.)

The level was traveling under a wide, blue-and-purple platform. A hole occupied by a bubble sat in its exact center.

Before Black Shadow's kick could connect, Phoenix crouched slightly. His right fist shone crimson, and his attack was unleashed.

"Phoenix Spiral!"

It was a flaming, spinning uppercut. The phoenix flames that engulfed his arm carried Black Shadow straight up, burning him repeatedly. When Phoenix ceased to rise, the spiraling flame did not; it continued to carry and began to separate. Black Shadow almost bumped his head against the platform. When the fire was about 35 feet high, it became a burning, bright phoenix, cried, and became sparks.

Black Shadow accumulated 22 percent damage and was knocked to the left, above the edge. Phoenix fell to the lower middle platform and grabbed the Beam Sword that awaited him. Black Shadow charged an electrical ball of energy (not too much different from a Shadow Ball in terms of appearance, but bigger and more translucent) in his oversized hands. Phoenix fired his imaginary weapon at Black Shadow's head; this time the fire was repeated, and he shot small, fast fireballs. The energy ball absorbed them. They were still visible, floating and spinning, and contributing to its strength.

The level approached the rainbow to the pot of gold, gaining speed.

Black Shadow ceased his charge, and both of his hands became heavily electrified. Phoenix jumped onto the blue platform and decided whether or not to jump down. Black Shadow had made the choice easy by jumping after him. Phoenix dodged his aerial dropkick by rolling backwards. He spun, slashed, and hit, and right after that, slashed even harder, and hit again. The rainbow passed over the two middle platforms. Suspecting damage, Phoenix descended to the main platform. Black Shadow was hit by the rainbow's edge. He skidded across the platform and launched his huge energy ball. The rainbow's knockback was considerate, and he ended up losing his first life.

Phoenix, who wouldn't have thought that the ball would go through the rainbow, was unexpectedly hit by it. He ate 35 percent damage and was knocked straight up, ablaze and electrified.

Black Shadow was revived. Phoenix, who had taken some damage from the bramble platform, was falling at high speed. Black Shadow double-jumped and drop kicked Phoenix hard. He also lost his first life from the attack; he flew in a straight line.

The level flew over the cheese wedge. It was almost at the top of the mountain.

Phoenix was revived. Black Shadow began charging another energy ball. Phoenix picked up a Crate and chucked it at his opponent, who stopped charging. He punched the Crate and broke it before it could touch him. He also, in the process, punched a Metal Box, becoming incredibly heavy. The other two items that emerged were a Flipper and a Bumper. Phoenix thought that neither would be of use at the moment, and hoped that Black Shadow wouldn't pick up the Bumper. Luckily, he didn't.

Black Shadow jumped, threw the Flipper in Phoenix's direction, and fell quickly. It stopped just short of his face. He jumped over it and headed for the Bumper. Black Shadow jumped at him, preparing another dropkick. It was easily dodged, and Phoenix got what he wanted.

The level slightly circled the Zubba statue, and then began a slow ascension to the sky.

Black Shadow continued charging his energy ball. When he was finished, the metallic effect had worn off, and the level had stopped moving, 40 feet above the statue. Nothing but sky and sun could be seen. Phoenix ran and jumped toward Black Shadow, on the rightmost platform. He launched another energy ball.

Well, he would've if the Bumper didn't hit him. He was knocked off the stage on a low trajectory, with 1 percent damage done to him. He double-jumped back to the stage.

Well, he would've if the Bumper didn't hit him again. The second time KO'd him. And Phoenix had damage to spare, and still managed to catch the Bumper. It was looking good so far.

Black Shadow was revived, and mad about what had just happened. He decided to try an all-out assault. Right when more Zubbas came. All 9 of them dived at once. Black Shadow went right through 5 of them in his brief invincibility and went after Phoenix, who had just finished dodging the other 4 Zubbas. He grabbed Phoenix, punched him in his stomach, and then punched him in the back of his head, sending him bouncing against the floor. The process was repeated, and Phoenix bounced a little higher. He was soon entrapped in another electric ring and punted. The Bumper was still in his firm grip when he was sent flying, with 47 percent damage taken.

The level began to rotate slowly, and the Zubbas flew away.

Phoenix, who was knocked almost straight up, altered his falling direction to the left, towards a Freezie that was almost sliding off the stage. Black Shadow followed his fall, completely ignoring the Freezie, and jumped up after him, sticking his horns upward and creating a type of dark, mini-barrier protecting his head. Phoenix regained momentum and dodged downward, barely avoiding the blow.

The level started to descend quickly.

Phoenix threw the Bumper at Black Shadow's feet, sending him off the left side. Then he picked up the ice-cold item, short-hopped, and froze the Emperor of Evil.

The level stopped descending when it reached the blue skull. A pink shaman with a skull for a face, 3 red feathers atop his head, red eyes, and a skull-shaped staff standing on top of the hut laughed robotically. The level flew away from the hut, and the impersonator started to shoot pink fireballs at the fighters. They were a bit slow, but they homed.

Black Shadow broke out of the ice right when he almost reached the blast line. He was hit by one of the fireballs, and knocked back up to the stage. Phoenix backflipped and dodged a fireball. He fired at Black Shadow, hitting him with another stream of flames. From the air, Black Shadow was hit by another fireball. Phoenix's right fist glowed crimson, and he prepared a punch. As time passed, the glow's brilliance rose. When Black Shadow prepared to stomp on him, he halted his charge and hit him with a Phoenix Spiral, then continued charging.

The impersonator teleported somewhere, ceasing fire. The level slowed down when it reached a platform with a high jump pole and a jelly cushion. The jelly platform went right between the two supporting poles.

Phoenix's charge ended. His right fist maintained a bright, full, crimson glow. Now all he had to do was set him up for it. He looked around quickly. There was a plastic, white-and-orange, black-triggered gun lying behind him. He picked it and waited for Black Shadow to try and attack him.

The level repeated its mountain climbing routine in the opposite direction.

Black Shadow ran towards Phoenix at high speed, attempting to ram him. Phoenix fired 4 times. Each time the entire stage flashed white, and there was a sound resembling that of a whip cracking mixed with a whoosh of some sort. The first 3 times hurt, dealing 5 percent of damage each time, but he was only fazed on the 4th shot. By fazed, I mean stunned completely. Right in front of Phoenix.

"Nice." Phoenix dropped the gun and started his punch. He brought his glowing fist behind him.

"Phoeniiiiiiix…"

The fist became a flaming mini-phoenix.

"Punch!"

When the fist was brought forward, the phoenix became bigger than Phoenix. The force carried Phoenix forward a few feet; the bird flapped its wings once before disappearing. It dealt 40 percent damage (the number of the Rainbow Phoenix). The battle was over.

"Game!"

_Finally. I'm pretty sure the next fight will be easier than this. _


	12. Shadow Mario vs Peach

_Over a year of frustration, disappointment, and waiting leads to this battle. I'm about as excited as you are._

Black Shadow and Phoenix rematerialized at Final Destination. Phoenix was feeling pretty good about his victory, but didn't want to boast. Many, including Captain Falcon, were moderately impressed. Black Shadow was utterly mortified.

Most of the large group cheered as Phoenix walked over.

"That was something," said Fox.

"Yeah, that was fun to watch. Good job," Banjo commented.

"I shocked myself in that fight, believe me," Phoenix said, looking for a good spot. During his look, he passed Falcon. They looked at each other. Neither pilot spoke, but they could each feel a kind of mutual respect for one another. Falcon nodded, as if to say, "You did good". Phoenix nodded, as if to respond, "Thank you."

Master Hand returned to the platform after 3 minutes of light chatter.

"Phoenix moves on to the next round. Evil guys have no luck, right Black Shadow?"

Black Shadow said nothing.

"Yeah. Let's keep it moving. Shadow Mario versus Peach. Let's go."

Peach stood up. She knew this fight was going to be weird, and tough.

"Yes! It's my turn now, Dad! This victory will be for you!" Bowser Jr. said, quickly getting up, brush in hand.

"Don't be so sure, 'Shadow Mario'. I mean, look what happened to your father," Mario called out.

"You be quiet! Just watch. I'll win. I have to."

Both Peach and Bowser Jr. walked to the center of the platform. The Koopa Prince put on his mustache mask and prepared to transform. He jumped several feet in the air doing countless somersaults. The fighters noticed that he seemed to remain afloat whilst flipping. In a matter of seconds, he began to shine a bright white which caused many in the area to shield their eyes. When they could see again, there were two somersaulting figures. Shadow Mario flipped right beside Bowser Jr. They both landed at the same time. Shadow Mario looked at Bowser Jr. with glowing, red eyes, and a distinct air of curiosity. Bowser Jr. wondered how and why this happened. He was complete with his own paintbrush.

"The randomly selected stage was Station Square. Are you two ready to battle?"

Peach eyed her mysterious opponent while nodding. Shadow Mario nodded as well. The two vanished instantly.

* * *

(Station Square is the city hub featured in Sonic Adventure. It very closely resembles downtown Manhattan. This stage is situated like Fourside, with platforms being the roofs of tall skyscrapers. There are 5 of them, with the tallest being 2nd from the right. In the background, the sun is setting behind the ocean.)

* * *

Shadow Mario and Peach appeared on their respective platforms. Both examined their surroundings.

"Ready?"

The two landed.

"GO!"

Shadow Mario jumped up high, from the tallest building, and looked down at Peach. He began to paint a ball of sludge in his left hand, vastly decreasing his descent. Peach plucked a turnip from the ground and waited for his next move. Shadow Mario chucked the sludge at Peach at an angle. She jumped onto the building in front of her. The sludge behind her made a tiny, icky explosion on contact, and covered half of that building's roof in pink, slippery sludge. Shadow Mario still had plenty of airtime and began to paint another ball of sludge. Bigger this time. Peach continued her advance. She ran and jumped atop the next building, the longest and second tallest, narrowly avoiding a fairly large, icky explosion. Shadow Mario began to paint his last ball. Peach jumped to the tallest building and threw her turnip straight up, as hard as possible. Shadow Mario threw his sludge ball straight down. Both projectiles canceled each other out, and now it was just princess against imposter.

Shadow Mario tumbled backwards, quickly, with brush extended. Peach quickly sidestepped and grabbed him before he could land. She slapped him repeatedly (and if anything ever felt good, that was it). Utilizing her newfound anger, she became a raging fireball, burned Shadow Mario multiple times, and slapped him with all her might. He didn't fly very far, but he did have 19 percent damage dealt. He retaliated with an aerial roundhouse kick to her head. Following that, he slashed diagonally forward with his brush, painting a portion of the ground in red sludge. The sludge emitted small flames (and Peach was burned as well). Peach floated above the sludge and started to remove her crown for a powerful strike. She swung. And technically missed.

At the moment she attempted the strike, Shadow Mario turned into a small bubble, glowing black and blue. In this state, it was like he was in another dimension, and couldn't be attacked. And he could move in any direction he wished. He chose to fly up a bit, leaving a few afterimages in his short trip. After regaining his normal form, he made a full vertical stroke of the brush, splattering Peach all over with a paint of pink and yellow mixture, doing a measly 4 percent of damage. She was disgusted.

_Gross! This paint better run, or he'll be sorry he ever became his own creature!_

A Star Rod appeared on the building farthest left. Peach turned around and jumped, while Shadow Mario assumed bubble mode. Peach noticed that her jumping height was roughly halved; the paint was a bit heavy. She also noticed that when she landed, her traction went straight to hell. She decided to float the rest of the way. But Shadow Mario could fly slightly faster than Peach could float. When he reached the rod, Peach was on the building right beside it, still covered in paint, and holding a turnip. He swung it horizontally with one arm and launched a star. Peach quickly sidestepped to avoid it.

He fired another. Faster and stronger. Peach quickly sidestepped to avoid it.

He began to coat the floor of his building with blue and yellow paint. Peach's paint ran off, so she jumped and threw her vegetable. Shadow Mario jumped and launched a quick star. The vegetable broke through.

Not good for Shadow Mario.

The turnip was her strongest, the dreaded "stitchface". It landed a direct hit on his face, dealing a brutal 36 percent damage and knocking him a good distance (just enough to get magnified). Peach took out another turnip and prepared to edgeguard.

A Crate appeared on the second tallest building. Shadow Mario took immediate notice. To address the small matter of getting there, he double-jumped forward, rapidly somersaulting in the same direction. Peach followed his ascension and threw her turnip at him. Shadow Mario assumed bubble form; the turnip went straight through. He flew forward. Peach followed him atop the buildings. He flew as fast as she could run, so trailing him wasn't very hard. By the edge of the 3rd building from the left, Shadow Mario returned to normal, and started to fall. Peach prepared an upward Smash. When she realized that he wasn't going to attack, she canceled her Smash and jumped after him. Shadow Mario grabbed one of the edges of the tallest building (think Fourside) and quickly jumped. Peach was right on his semi-transparent tail.

Until that Star Rod hit her in the face.

Shadow Mario chuckled and continued toward the Crate. When he eventually reached and broke it, a Metal Box, a Cloaking Device, and an Invincibility Star emerged. He got all 3. Now he was an invisible, metallic, invincible danger zone. (The invisibility was ruined by the sparkling, but still, it was menacing.) Peach stood atop the tallest building and stared at the heavy, invisible, invulnerable imposter. He ran towards her. She kept staring. A Bunny Hood dropped in front of his run, and it was picked up.

She kept staring.

He ran faster, leaping extra high upon reaching the edge.

She still stared.

Shadow Mario was 25 feet above Peach's head, coming down fast and preparing an unstoppable assault. Peach weighed her options.

If she jumped forward, he'd get her.

If she jumped backward, he'd get her.

If she tried to dodge, he'd wait, then get her.

If she attacked...well, duh.

That left only blocking. Well, let's see how that worked out.

Peach shielded lightly and prayed. Shadow Mario fell and barraged the shield, first reverse somersaulting before landing to strike with the brush. He made a full vertical stroke, covering Peach's shield and most of the roof in dark green sludge. A millisecond before the invincibility wore off, Shadow Mario grabbed her. Then he painted her blue and yellow all over, and whacked her away when he was done, dealing 7 percent damage. During her flight, she came into contact with a Poison Mushroom, rose too high, and was KO'd.

Shadow Mario looked around for any other items in the vicinity while Peach revived herself. There was a Screw Attack on the building in front of him and some type of shiny, blue, rodent-looking item on the building behind. Peach revived where the Screw Attack lay, so he went for the other one. Peach picked up the Screw Attack first, then sought revenge. She saw Shadow Mario go after some strange item, and didn't know what to expect. She decided to wait atop the tallest building.

He was staring at her. It gave her the wrong kind of chills, opposite of those the true Mario instilled. The stare-down lasted until the Bombchu blew up by her feet. The Screw Attack was dropped. Shadow Mario easily got a hold of it, and went after the princess. Peach, who had garnered 26 percent damage, hadn't flown very far, and tried to counterattack. Her aerial spin connected. But that was all.

His incredibly high jumps effortlessly claimed her 2nd life.

Peach was revived. She had to kill him at least once. She owed him that. But he was too good. How could she possibly overcome this fake? She didn't have that much time to think, as Shadow Mario was already after her. He was atop the tallest building and coming down on her, above the 2nd tallest building. A Bob-omb appeared at Peach's feet, sitting stationary. She picked it up. Shadow Mario extended his brush downwards, and looked as if he was about to make multiple brush strokes. Peach threw the bomb into his attack; the resulting explosion just barely heated up her crown.

Shadow Mario was sent flying diagonally up, and lost his first life.

As he revived, Peach cheered. It was about time. Could she survive long enough to do it two more times? He had revived on the building to the left of Peach. There was a distinct playfulness in his eyes previously, even with the glowing redness. Now he was just angry. The glowing seemed more intense. Peach felt that she was in for a world of trouble now.

Shadow Mario made another vertical stroke, but Peach jumped right before the red, flaming sludge reached her. He coated his roof with dark green sludge as Peach floated above his head. The imposter jumped up and backflipped, kicking Peach and rising above her. She tried to double jump after him, but he followed his previous attack by somersaulting and bringing both feet in a 50-degree arc, Meteor Smashing Peach into the sludge. She was quickly covered in it, and the effects appeared to be the same: increased weight and greatly decreased traction. Peach tried to run and jump to the next building, but she moved much slower than normal, and the roof's slipperiness coupled with her already low traction caused her to be moving slightly _backward_.

_Oh no..._

Shadow Mario landed and grabbed Peach, covering her in more sludge, colored blue and yellow. She became heavier and slower, and as an added effect, was electrocuted every 2 seconds, with each shock dealing 3 percent damage. He didn't bother to throw her. He just made another vertical stroke at close quarters, not only damaging her, but covering her in red sludge, adding to the previous effects and burning her every second, dealing 1 percent damage. At this time, Peach could barely move, and was getting 6 percent damage every 3 seconds. And that's without all the jabbing Shadow Mario was doing with the pointed end of his brush. The pain was like nothing she ever felt before, and tied with being KO'd for the worst pain she ever experienced.

The paint completely ran off after 12 seconds, after which Peach had accumulated 62 percent damage, which, added to the initial kicks, made a grand total of 83 percent damage done. Before Peach could perform her downward Smash, she was jabbed hard by Shadow Mario's forward Smash, another poke with the brush's opposite end. It dealt 12 percent damage and knocked her all the way to top of the tallest building. She landed on her back. She could see a Hammer towering above her. She quickly got up and grabbed it, embracing its rampage. She jumped off the building and eyed Shadow Mario directly below. He still looked angry, but she didn't care. She came down with vengeance. It was going to feel really good bashing this freak's head in. And he was just standing there?

_But...why?_

Shadow Mario jumped back and unleashed his Fire Flower. He used it to push Peach against the wall of the tallest building, and then just watched her descent. Embarrassing couldn't begin to describe what just happened to her. By the time the Hammer wore off, she was a foot from the blast line, with no way of getting back up. She'd been bested. But at least she got him once. Shadow Mario couldn't help but chuckle.

"Game!"

_If anything ever took forever, that was it._


End file.
